Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

TRENTON, N.J. – An Asbury Park, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm while serving as the driver in a drive-by shooting in Asbury Park, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

 

Roosevelt Dante Harris, 39, of Asbury Park, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan to an information charging him with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Judge Sheridan imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.

 

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

 

Harris admitted that despite having one or more prior felony convictions in Monmouth County, he knowingly possessed a Taurus, model PT709 Slim, 9 mm pistol on Nov. 24, 2016, in Asbury Park. Harris admitted that three days earlier he accompanied another individual to a firearms dealer in South Carolina, where the other individual purchased three firearms –including the Taurus pistol that Harris possessed – on Harris’ behalf. Harris transported the three firearms from South Carolina to New Jersey.

Harris admitted that on Nov. 24, 2016, while he was driving a black minivan in Asbury Park, he possessed the Taurus pistol, which was located behind the glove compartment of the black minivan. Harris admitted that another individual shot a firearm out of the black minivan while Harris was driving.

 

In addition to the prison term, Judge Sheridan sentenced Harris to three years of supervised release. 

 

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John B. Devito in Newark, New Jersey; officers of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni; and officers of the Asbury Park Police Department, under the direction of Deputy Chief David Kelso, with the investigation.  U.S. Attorney Carpenito also thanked officers of the Lakewood Police Department, under the direction of Chief Gregory Meyer, for their assistance in the case.

 

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa T. Wiygul of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.

 

Defense counsel: Andrea D. Bergman Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Trenton