United States Drug Enforcement Administration

NEWARK, N.J. – Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division Susan A. Gibson and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Rachael A. Honig announced a South Carolina man today admitted conspiring to illegally sell firearms, including five pistols and one rifle, in and around Essex County, New Jersey.

Carter Wilkerson, 21, of Orangeburg, South Carolina, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to engage in the busines of unlicensed firearms dealing.

From April 2021 through May 18, 2021, Wilkerson was a member of a drug trafficking conspiracy. In furtherance of the conspiracy, he trafficked six firearms, with the intent to sell these weapons to at least one New Jersey resident.

The count of conspiracy to engage in the business of unlicensed firearms dealing carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for April 26, 2022.

Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents and task force officers of the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson in Newark, and special agents and task force officers with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey L. Matthews, Newark Field Division, with the investigation leading to the charges.

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