Convicted Felon of Jersey City Admits Illegal Possession of a Handgun

NEWARK, N.J. – A Hudson County, New Jersey, man today admitted possessing a firearm and ammunition after having previously been convicted of a felony, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Andre Cannon, 29, of Jersey City, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden to an indictment charging him with illegal possession of a handgun and ammunition by a previously convicted felon.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On July 11, 2020, a victim was shot in the leg near Martin Luther King Drive and Oak Street in Jersey City. Police discovered a .40-caliber S&W shell casing in a nearby courtyard. Surveillance video showed that Cannon had committed the shooting. The following day, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Cannon’s house. As police announced their presence and entered the front of the house, officers stationed at the back of the house saw Cannon throw a black Beretta Gardone .40-caliber handgun loaded with 10 .40-caliber rounds of ammunition out of a first-floor window.

Cannon had previously been convicted in the Superior Court of Hudson County of unlawful possession of a handgun, a felony punishable by more than one year in prison.

The charges of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked members of the Jersey City Police Department, under the leadership of Public Safety Director James Shea, for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah A. Sulkowski of the Violent Crimes Unit in Newark.