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"That sh*t belong to me," Jabbar Pierce, 41, told officers in his Penns Grove apartment who read him his Miranda rights and then recorded his every word, according to a criminal complaint.
A federal judge ordered Pierce held following a video-conferenced initial court appearance Friday afternoon in Newark on charges of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
Authorities in Salem County were investigating Pierce for gun and drug crimes when they executed a search warrant at his home last Nov. 9, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
"If you find anything, it belongs to me. Anything that's in there illegal," Pierce was recorded saying. "You got that? You got that on there? It belongs to me."
They did find something -- a .40-caliber KelTec rifle and a 24-round magazine loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition, the ATF complaint on file in Newark says. It was "manufactured outside of the state of New Jersey and purchased earlier in 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland," the complaint says.
Given his history, Pierce is looking at a lengthy federal prison stretch if convicted. Records show several convictions out of Salem County:
- June 2001: Sentenced to 10 years in state prison for robbery;
- June 2011: Sentenced to concurrent sentences totaling 12 years for burglary, making terroristic threats and drug dealing;
- December 2017: Sentenced to concurrent sentences for drug possession and violating parole.
Sellinger credited special agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' Camden Field Office, the Salem County Prosecutor’s Office and Penns Grove police with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender of his Camden office is handling the investigation.
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