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Antoine Hawkins, a 31-year-old repeat offender with an extensive criminal record, also had three illegal ammunition magazines in his apartment, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
Prosecutor’s detectives approached Hawkins earlier this week while investigating a shooting from last month, Carpenito said.
As they spoke with him, they noticed “what appeared to be the imprint of a firearm on Hawkins’s jacket,” he said.
A frisk turned up a 9mm Springfield Armory XDM pistol loaded with 19 rounds of ammunition, Carpenito said.
Detectives also found the heroin folds and ammo magazines during a warranted search of his home, the U.S. attorneys aid.
A warranted search revealed 626 glassine envelopes containing suspected heroin and three 9mm magazines.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk ordered via teleconference Thursday in Newark that Hawkins remain held pending further court action on charges of illegally possessing a firearm (as a convicted felon) and possession of heroin with the intent to distribute the drug.(NOTE: There's no bail in the federal criminal justice system).
Several law enforcement agencies worked the case under the auspices of the Violent Crime Initiative (VCI) in Newark, which works to fight violent crime in and around the city, Carpenito said.
He specifically cited the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Newark police, the DEA and the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for their work leading to the charges.
Handling the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Levin of Carpenito’s Violent Crimes Unit in Newark.
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