Department of Justice

TRENTON, N.J. – A Mercer County, New Jersey, man was convicted today of being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Rasheed McNair, 40, of Ewing, New Jersey, was convicted following a two-day trial before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court. The jury deliberated for less than one hour before returning the guilty verdict.

According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial:

On Feb. 18, 2018, two Trenton Police detectives in the Street Crimes Unit were driving through the area of Oakland Street and Hoffman Avenue in Trenton when one of them observed McNair standing in an open doorway in a public housing complex and holding what was later identified as a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun.

McNair tucked the handgun into his jacket and ran up the stairwell of the building. After giving chase, one of the detectives observed McNair remove the handgun from inside his jacket and attempt to hide it under a doormat in front of an apartment. The other detective retrieved the firearm from under the doormat and rendered it safe. The weapon was later found to be loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition in the magazine and one round in the chamber, and its serial number had been obliterated.

The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 9, 2020.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited the Trenton Police Department, under the direction of Police Director Sheilah A. Coley; and special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Charlie J. Patterson, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty verdict.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elisa T. Wiygul and Michelle S. Gasparian of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Trenton.

Defense counsel: Mark A. Fury Esq., Mt. Holly, New Jersey

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