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Authorites link gun trafficker to 209 weapons

A Glassboro man has pleaded guilty to selling an assault firearm to an undercover state trooper and possessing other illegal weapons.

Horace Dixon, 50, pleaded guilty to unlawful disposition of an assault firearm, unlawful possession of a machine gun, and unlawful possession of a handgun before Superior Court Judge Walter L. Marshall Jr. in Woodbury, state Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor said Tuesday.

Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Dixon be sentenced to 10 years in state prison, including five years without possibility of parole. Marshall scheduled sentencing for Dixon for Jan. 28.

Authorities said Dixon sold four weapons to an undercover State Police detective and when arrested had at least 205 weapons in his home and car.

"This case involved a man whose home was an arsenal of dangerous guns, and whose actions displayed a complete lack of concern for how the illegal firearms he sold were to be used," State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes said. "We are proud of our part in this cooperative investigation that began at the local level and grew to include county, state and federal agencies."

"By putting gun traffickers such as this defendant behind bars, we are eliminating a conduit by which deadly assault weapons are reaching the streets of New Jersey," state Attorney General Paula T. Dow.

The charges were contained in a May 20, state grand jury indictment stemming from an investigation by the State Police-ATF Joint Firearms Task Force, the Glassboro police and the Gloucester County prosecutor's office.

Dixon was arrested by state troopers on Aug. 13, 2009, in the parking lot of a bowling alley on Route 47 in Glassboro as a result of the joint investigation. Dixon was at the location to sell guns to an undercover State Police detective.

In early July 2009, the Glassboro police learned of two assault rifles for sale and contacted the ATF. As a result, a State Police detective acting undercover as part of the Joint Firearms Task Force arranged to purchase four weapons from Dixon. When purchasing the guns, the undercover detective indicated to Dixon that he planned to deface the serial numbers on the guns and sell them on the street.

On July 17, 2009, Dixon sold the undercover detective two guns for $3,000, a 7.62 x 39 mm FEG semi-automatic rifle and a .233-caliber Norinco semi-automatic rifle. He included three large-capacity ammunition magazines for the Norinco rifle. On Aug. 7, 2009, Dixon sold two more guns to the detective for $2,000, a .380-caliber Bersa semi-automatic pistol and a .223-caliber Romarm semi-automatic rifle. He included a large-capacity magazine for the Romarm rifle.

When Dixon was arrested, police searched his car and seized a .45-caliber Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol, a .380-caliber Star semi-automatic pistol, a 12-gauge Shandong 1st Machine Works pump action shotgun, a 7.62 x 39 mm Romarm semi-automatic rifle, and a large-capacity magazine for the Romarm rifle. A search of Dixon's home yielded a grenade launcher and more than 200 guns, including a Deutsche Waffen Munitionsfabriken water-cooled, belt-fed machine gun, a .223-caliber Ruger semi-automatic rifle, and a 7.62 x 39 mm Norinco semi-automatic rifle.

Dixon specifically pleaded guilty to selling the FEG semi-automatic rifle to the detective, and to possessing the Bersa pistol and the Deutsche Waffen Munitionsfabriken machine gun.

Deputy Attorney General Jill S. Mayer is prosecuting the case.

— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM