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Joseph Triplett, 32, of East Orange, was maneuvering his bike around pedestrians on a South 8th Street sidewalk when an officer tried to stop him in September 2019, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
Triplett ignored the officer's orders and pedaled off in the opposite direction, Honig said.
Officers pursued Triplett, who tossed a fanny pack holding a loaded .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver before he was captured, she said.
Triplett had only just been released from state prison five months earlier after serving 3½ years for robbery and making terroristic threats when the bicycle incident occurred. As a convicted felon, he couldn't have a gun.
The FBI took charge of the case and Triplett took a deal from the government -- rather than face a federal trial -- pleading guilty this past May to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez sentenced Triplett to three years of supervised release.
Honig credited special agents of the FBI and Newark police with the investigation leading to the May plea and Monday's sentencing, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dong Joo Lee and Shontae Gray of her Newark office.
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ALSO SEE: A convicted sex offender from Toms River who police said was wearing a tactical vest and carrying two guns and three high-capacity magazines when he crashed his car on Route 35 last month has been charged federally, authorities said. READ MORE....
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