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Feds: NJ Man Admits He Ran Guns From Georgia With Online Dating Match

An ex-con from New Jersey most likely didn't list "gun running" among his hobbies when he made an online love connection with a Southern woman.

As a five-time convicted felon, Dylan Ianncelli is prohibited from having firearms.

As a five-time convicted felon, Dylan Ianncelli is prohibited from having firearms.

Photo Credit: Rajesh Rajput on Unsplash

It'll be quite some time before Dylan Ianncelli, 28, of Gloucester County dates again -- either online or off -- after admitting in federal court on Wednesday, March 9, that he and his Georgia peach trafficked nearly a dozen firearms into New Jersey.

Ianncelli went down to Georgia after meeting Jessy Hill, who authorities said bought 11 guns from a licensed dealer on Aug. 12, 2021.

Hill "falsely indicated during the purchase that she was the actual buyer/transferee of the firearms," even though she was buying them for Ianncelli, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.

Hill raised the $2,400 to pay for the guns, in part, by taking loans against her truck, federal authorities said.

“I got approved for ($)5000,” she texted Ianncelli at one point, they said.

"That’s good,” he answered. “Get a bunch of pistols and make a HUGE profit.”

The couple lit out for New Jersey immediately after the buys, driving more than 750 miles, Sellinger said.

Police in Mantua stopped them the next morning, seizing a dozen guns in all, including one with a defaced serial number that Hill bought a week earlier, the U.S. attorney said.

As a five-time convicted felon -- for crimes including burglary, aggravated assault and drug possession -- Ianncelli is prohibited from having firearms, Sellinger noted.

Hoping for leniency, he took a deal from the government rather than face trial.

U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez scheduled sentencing for July 12 on Ianncelli's guilty plea in federal court in Camden on Wednesday to conspiracy, gun trafficking and being a convicted felon in possession of firearms, Sellinger said. 

Ianncelli, of Pitman, will remain in federal custody in New Jersey until then.

The status of Hill's case couldn't immediately be determined.

Sellinger credited special agents and task force officers with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Newark Field Division with the investigation leading to the guilty plea, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender of his Camden office.

He also thanked the New Jersey State Police, the Mantua Township Police Department and the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden.

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