Fed Pen Awaits Newark Ex-Con With Weapons History Who Had Different Guns In Separate Incidents

Samaad “Spud” Kelly, 33, already was a convicted felon when Essex County sheriff’s officers stopped his 2002 BMW wagon for having tinted windows on April 24, 2019 and found a Taurus semi-automatic 9 millimeter handgun in the glove box, authorities said.

Kelly remained jailed all of eight days before a judge ordered him released on May 2 under New Jersey’s 2017 bail reform law, records show.

Three days later, city police responding to a report of shots fired near Astor Street found a 9mm shell casing and a live round of ammo, along with surveillance video that “showed Kelly point and fire a black handgun in the direction of another individual,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.

Five days after that, on May 10, city detectives approached Kelly in the area of Astor Street and Brunswick Street after seeing him wearing a weighed-down fanny pack, the U.S. attorney said.

Kelly ran, unclipping and tossing the pack as he went, but was quickly captured, Carpenito said.

The detectives also recovered a 9mm Ruger semi-automatic pistol loaded with 10 rounds, he said.

Kelly’s prior convictions included one for attempted aggravated assault in 2008 and another conviction as a convicted felon in 2010.

He accepted a deal from the government, pleading guilty Monday videoconference to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition.

U.S. District Judge Esther Salas scheduled sentencing for Oct. 20, 2020.

The case is part of Project Guardian , the Department of Justice’s “signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws,” the U.S. attorney said.

PROJECT GUARDIAN: https://www.justice.gov/projectguardian

Carpenito credited special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Newark Field Division with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

He also thanked the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, police officers and detectives of the Newark Police Department and the Essex County Sherriff’s Office.

Handling the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher D. Amore of the Government Fraud Unit in Newark.

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