A Waretown man who pleaded guilty in April of this year to multiple weapons charges has now been sentenced to just over a year in prison.

It'll be officially 12 months and one day in prison for 57-year-old Jeffrey Backlund of Waretown for unlawfully possessing a privately manufactured short barrel rifle, a silencer, and five imitation badges of various federal agencies, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger,  who added that the charges stem in part from the Ocean County man "unlawfully possessing firearms that were not registered in the National Firearms Register and Transfer Record, and unlawful possession of an official badge or identification card." 

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The sentence handed down in Trenton federal court concludes a two-year look into this case.

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Attorney Sellinger said law enforcement was investigating a domestic disturbance on September 6, 2020, at his residence and when they secured a search warrant, they reported back that they ended up finding "multiple firearms including a short-barreled, AR-style, .223 caliber rifle bearing no serial number and no branding. Attached to the rifle, they found a tan metal cylindrical device that law enforcement determined to be a silencer." 

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Backlund was supposed to have registered the rifle and silencer with the National Firearms Register and Transfer Record pursuant to the National Firearms Act, according to Sellinger.

In addition to the rifles and silencers, Attorney Sellinger said that "law enforcement officers also located two bi-fold wallets containing FBI Special Agent identification credentials bearing Backlund’s picture and personal information, a United States Marshals Service badge, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Special Agent badge, and a Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent badge."

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The badges and i-d's were not legitimate and Backlund had no legal authority to have them in his possession, according to Sellinger.

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Backlund must serve three years of supervised release following the year plus in prison and pay a fine of $5,000.

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For this investigation U.S. Attorney Sellinger said that the credit goes to "special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark; special agents of the ATF Newark Field Division, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bryan R. Miller; special agents of the DEA, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson in Newark; members of the U.S. Marshals Service, under the direction of Marshal Juan Mattos Jr.; detectives with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, and officers of the Ocean Township Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michal J. Rogalski." 

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In this case,  Attorney Sellinger said that the government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Martha K. Nye of the Criminal Division in Trenton and the defense counsel is Keith Oliver Esq., of Middletown, New Jersey.

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