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Four defendants were in a vehicle stopped by State Police on Sept. 26, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig said.
Two of them -- ex-con Kendell McFadden, 28, and Laronmir MdFadden, 27, of Florence, South Carolina -- led the ring, a subsequent investigation involving the ATF found, she said.
The McFaddens recruited a group of straw purchasers to buy the guns in and around Florence for them, Honig said.
This summer, for instance, Savon Harrison, 25, and Michael Gamble, 31, also both of Florence, bought five guns in South Carolina, she said. They used Gamble's debit card, which was recovered four days later, Honig said.
Another gun bought using the card was recovered in Paterson last week, the U.S. attorney said.
Arrested during the State Police stop were the McFaddens, Harrison and Dontavian Jones, 24.
Two of the nine guns seized were bought by a sixth defendant, Donjanea McClary, 24, in South Carolina, Honig said.
"According to gun trace data, a significant number of firearms recovered in the New York/northern New Jersey area originate from outside the area," she said.
As a result, federal authorities -- working with their state and local counterparts -- have focused on disrupting the flow into the area, the U.S. attorney said.
All six defendants in the South Carolina-to-Paterson pipeline are charged with conspiring to illegally sell unlicensed firearms, Honig said. Kenneth McFadden is also charged with being a convicted felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
How much of a case authorities will be able to make was open to question, however, after U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor released all six on $100,000 unsecured bond each pending resolution of the charges.
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