Gun Charges Issued for FL Women in Hunterdon County NJ
The Frenchtown police department has announced that they have arrested and charged a Florida resident with among other things, unlawful possession of a weapon following what officers claim was a routine traffic stop.
It seems like yet another innocent outside weapons owner is dealing with the strict zero tolerance gun laws that exist in New Jersey. According to nj.com, the Frenchtown police department pulled over a Seminole Florida resident for having tinted windows near Bridge Street earlier in the week and what started out as a simple routine stop has spawned into a nightmare. While searching for her license, officers apparently noticed that the women was carrying a concealed handgun in her purse. To make mattes worse, the authorities claim that once they seized the handgun, they noticed that it was loaded with hallow point bullets as well. Although the women has a lawful permit to carry a concealed weapon in Florida, she was still charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of hallow point bullets. This is because New Jersey does not accept out of state gun licenses. In New Jersey, the gun laws are basically considered strict liability. Fortunately for the women it does not appear that her charges were issued on a warrant as opposed to a summons. So, she was released from custody with a pending court date as opposed to falling victim to New Jersey’s bail reform. These charges are serious enough that the Hunterdon County Prosecutors office could have filled for what is known as a Detention Hearing and tried to convince a Judge that the women deserved to be detained, pretrial without bail.
Gun Charges in Hunterdon County NJ
New Jersey takes gun charges very seriously. Pursuant to the Graves Act, anyone convicted of unlawful possession of a handgun must not only be sentenced to a term of incarceration but that term must also come with what is known as a parole ineligibility period as well. Since this is a second degree felony, the mandatory minimum sentence that a Defendant could be offered would be five years in a New Jersey State Prison with a forty-two month parole ineligibility period. With that being said, Graves Act Waivers do exist and if they are obtained, a Defendant could not only avoid incarceration but in some instances they could avoid a criminal record if they are eligible for the Pretrial Intervention Program. These waivers are very fact sensitive and as such we strongly recommend that you speak to an attorney who has extensive experience dealing with these types of charges. To speak to one of the Hunterdon County gun possession defense attorneys at Keith Oliver Criminal Law then please contact us at 908-533-1064.
Hunterdon County NJ Gun Attorney
If you have been arrested and charged with a gun offenses in Hunterdon County, in towns like Union Township, Clinton, Readington, Raritan, Lambertville, Flemington or elsewhere the Keith Oliver Criminal Law can help. Our office has extensive experience helping clients obtain what is known as Graves Act Waivers. Mr. Oliver, one of the firms founding partners has helped numerous clients obtain waivers and gain acceptance into the Pretrial Intervention Program on gun charges over the years. If you would like to come into our office for a free initial consultation then please contact our office at 908-533-1064 or leave us an email.
For more information on this incident, please checkout nj.com’s article labeled Woman arrested after cops find loaded handgun in her purse.
