Mariusz Cebula, Possession of Machineguns, New Jersey 2023

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced today that Mariusz Cebula, 36, of Ringwood, New Jersey, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for possession of multiple machineguns, which are illegal under federal law. Cebula previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to an information charging him with one count of knowingly possessing five machineguns.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Cebula admitted to possessing five machineguns, but agreed to forfeit an additional 12 machineguns and machinegun parts, all of which were possessed illegally. The five machineguns charged in the information were determined to be readily operational as automatic weapons, meaning they required no modification to shoot more than one shot automatically by a single function of the trigger and without manual reload.

Cebula obtained most of the firearms through purchases at gun shows from unlicensed gun sellers and on the Internet. Besides the machineguns charged in the information and forfeited by him, Cebula also possessed numerous other firearms, weapons and ammunition, all of which have been administratively forfeited by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.

Ringwood, New Jersey, ranked number six on the list of top ten cities in New Jersey where guns were seized in 2015, behind Newark, Paterson, Trenton, Jersey City and Camden. Of the 93 recovered guns that propelled Ringwood to the sixth spot on the list, the overwhelming majority (approximately 80) were recovered from Cebula’s home.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Wigenton sentenced Cebula to three years of supervised release. U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Scott C. Curley, and the Ringwood Police Department, under the direction of Chief Joseph Walker, with the investigation leading to the charge.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sammi Malek of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark. Defense Counsel Miles Feinstein Esq. of Clifton, New Jersey, represented Cebula.

The case was investigated by the ATF and the Ringwood Police Department, and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark. Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes also assisted in the case.

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