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NJ Felon Guilty of Firearm and Ammo Possession Following Trial
Prosecutors said detectives recovered two loaded handguns from a backpack after a July 2025 chase near Wynona Lipman Gardens; sentencing is set for June 23, 2026.
A Newark man with a prior felony record was convicted by a federal jury of unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition after a trial in U.S. District Court, according to an announcement from Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello.
Ken Anderson, 33, of Newark, was found guilty of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition following a trial that began Feb. 3 before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti in Newark federal court, prosecutors said. Anderson is scheduled to be sentenced June 23, 2026.
The conviction centers on a July 2025 incident in Newark’s Central Ward that prosecutors said ended with Anderson’s arrest after a vehicle pursuit and foot chase, during which investigators said they recovered two loaded handguns and ammunition.
What prosecutors said happened
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, detectives with the Essex County Sheriff’s Office responded in the early evening of July 22, 2025, after receiving a tip from a confidential informant about a man with a firearm near the Wynona Lipman Gardens housing development in Newark’s Central Ward.
Detectives said they found Anderson seated in a vehicle that was double-parked within the housing development. When detectives approached using lights and sirens, prosecutors said Anderson fled.
Prosecutors said Anderson drove recklessly through the development, reached a dead-end street and rolled out of his moving vehicle. Before the vehicle crashed into a handicapped sign, prosecutors said Anderson grabbed a backpack and ran through the housing development, jumping fences before crossing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and entering Interstate 280, where officers arrested him.
Detectives said they recovered two loaded firearms from the backpack, and also found a bullet in one of Anderson’s pant pockets.
Penalties
The felon-in-possession charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors said.
Lamparello credited the FBI’s Newark Division, under Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Roddy, and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, under Sheriff Amir D. Jones, with the investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachelle M. Navarro, of the Bank Integrity, Money Laundering, and Recovery Unit, and Sean Nadel, of the International Narcotics and Trafficking Unit in Newark, prosecutors said.
