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A search of the shop owned and operated by ex-con Ahmed A-Hady, 35, of Keyport, turned up three AR-15-style assault rifles, among 13 weapons in all, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said.
A-Hady (also known as Ed Him) also had a .45 caliber handgun that he wasn’t legally permitted to have, leading to a federal charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, Carpenito said following his arrest early Saturday.
It began after investigators found a handwritten note in the rear right pocket of David Anderson, 47, one of the two Jersey City shooters.
It contained a telephone number ending in 4115 and the address of the pawn shop, Carpenito said.
A records search showed that A-Hady bought one Smith and Wesson handgun on May 23, 2007 and another 10 days later, the U.S. attorney said.
A-Hady was convicted in 2012 of trying to obtain prescription drugs by fraud, which prohibited him from possessing a firearm, Carpenito said.
A-Hady “admitted to owning both the .45 caliber and the .44 caliber” when investigators interviewed him in his apartment over the pawn shop Friday night, but he “falsely denied that they were on the premises,” he said.
A relative pointed them to a safe in the shop downstairs, where investigators found three handguns, including one of the two that A-Hady bought years earlier, Carpenito said.
In addition to the .44-caliber Smith & Wesson, there was a PK 380 and a Ruger 9mm, records show.
A subsequent search of the pawnshop produced six rifles (including three AR-15-style assault rifles), three handguns, and one shotgun, Carpenito said.
In A-Hady’s upstairs apartment, they found more than 400 rounds of ammunition, including a “large number” of hollow-point bullets, he said.
A-Hady remained in federal custody pending a hearing scheduled for Monday in U.S. District Court in Newark.
Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, the ATF, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and New Jersey State Police with the investigation leading to the weapons discovery and A-Hady’s arrest.
He also thanked the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office and Jersey City police for their assistance.
Prosecuting the case for the government is Ronnell Wilson, chief of the National Security Unit of Carpenito’s office, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dean C. Sovolos and Thomas S. Kearney, also of the NSU.
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