NEWARK, N.J. – A notorious Orange, New Jersey, man was sentenced to 53 months in prison for his involvement in two serious crimes: illegally possessing a firearm and conspiring to smuggle contraband, including marijuana and tobacco, into a federal pretrial detention facility.
Muhammad Subpunallah, 34, was found guilty of the crimes and received a prison sentence from U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden in Newark federal court.
According to court documents, Subpunallah was previously convicted of robbery in Essex County Superior Court. On October 11, 2011, he was arrested and found with a loaded .38 caliber Cobra firearm in his waistband while standing near Broad and Market streets in Newark.
After his arrest, Subpunallah engaged in a conspiracy to smuggle contraband into the Essex County Correctional Facility. From September 2013 to February 2014, he directed a relative, Vladimir Sauzereseteo, 41, of East Orange, New Jersey, to deliver contraband to Brian Kapalin, 68, of Maplewood, New Jersey, a lawyer, who then smuggled the contraband into the facility in exchange for a cash fee.
In January 2014, Subpunallah spoke with Kapalin over a recorded correctional facility phone, asking him to deliver contraband to an inmate at the Essex County Correctional Facility. Sauzereseteo was paid $1,650 via Western Union money transfers, which he used to purchase marijuana that he delivered to Kapalin, along with a cash payment for Kapalin’s service.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Hayden sentenced Subpunallah to serve three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited various law enforcement agencies with the investigation leading to the sentencing, including officers with the Newark Police Department, special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, special agents of the FBI, and investigators with the Internal Affairs Division of the Essex County Correctional Facility.
The government is represented by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Tyler and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cari Fais, Robert Frazer, and Rahul Agarwal of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark.
Subpunallah was defended by Assistant Federal Public Defender David Holman.
Related Federal Cases
- Anthony Warner, Currency Smuggling, New Jersey 2016 · Washington
- Satveer Saini, Firearm Trafficking, California 2023 · Washington
- Sato Satka, Bank Fraud, New Jersey 2024 · Illinois
- Robin W. Simon, Unlawful Importation of Prescription Drugs, Pennsylvania 2007 · Pennsylvania
- Richard Brown, Crack Cocaine Trafficking and Firearm Possession, Pennsylvania 2009 · Pennsylvania
Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Violent Crime|Weapons
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
US NewsUS NewsUS NewsUS News