An Essex County man was convicted by a federal jury of unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition, according to Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello. Ken Anderson, 33, of Newark, was found guilty of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition after a trial before United States District Judge Brian R. Martinotti. Sentencing is set for June 23, 2026.
Court documents and evidence presented at trial revealed that on July 22, 2025, detectives from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office acted on information from a confidential informant about an armed individual in the Wynona Lipman Gardens housing development in Newark’s Central Ward. Detectives found Anderson sitting double-parked in a vehicle at the location. When approached by law enforcement with lights and sirens, Anderson fled by driving recklessly through the area until reaching a dead-end street. He exited his moving vehicle before it crashed into a handicapped sign, took a backpack, and ran through the housing development. After jumping over fences and crossing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd onto Interstate 280, officers arrested him. Detectives recovered two loaded firearms from his backpack and found a bullet in one of his pant pockets.
The conviction carries a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Senior Counsel Lamparello credited the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Newark Division under Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Roddy and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff Amir D. Jones for their work on the case.
“This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
Assistant United States Attorney Rachelle M. Navarro from the Bank Integrity, Money Laundering, and Recovery Unit and Assistant United States Attorney Sean Nadel from the International Narcotics and Trafficking Unit represented the government in this case.
Anderson was represented by Tyler Newman, Esq., and Mallory Olwig, Esq.
