About a month ago, a Hasbrouck Heights man was charged with assembling and selling ‘ghost guns’. Michael Maresca, who is thirty-two years old, was arrested for the charge. He was arrested at the home that he grew up in. The investigation was led by the Division of Criminal Justice and the Paterson Police Department. Allegedly, Maresca sold two guns to undercover police officers for $1650 each. The guns also had a 15 round magazine loaded with hollow point bullets. Ghost guns are guns that an individual can put together. They are illegal here in New Jersey. The main reason they are illegal is because it is hard for law enforcement to trace since they have no serial numbers. Ghost guns are legal in other states, such as Vermont. Maresca was being held in the Bergen County Jail. Maresca is charged with nearly a dozen crimes. Among them, the most serious, is a second degree unlawful possession of a hand gun charge.
Hackensack Gun Lawyers
As stated above, Maresca’s most serious charge is the second degree unlawful possession of a handgun charge. This charge falls under the Graves Act. This means that at a minimum, the defendant will have to serve at least five years in New Jersey state prison with 85% of that time being ineligible for parole. That means the defendant will have to spend over four years in prison before they are eligible for parole. There are ways to defeat this charge. One of them being a ripe suppression issue, and/or a Graves Act Waiver.
Why the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall?
If you or a loved one has been charged with a gun crime, then a strong defense is going to be needed. Although, do not just hire any attorney you see or think has a the ‘qualifications’ to handle your case. At the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall, we have the experience, knowledge, credentials and man-power to fight you or a your loved one’s criminal case. Specifically, our criminal defense law firm has:
- Over two-hundred (200) years of combined experience
- A team of ten (10) criminal defense attorneys that devote their entire practice to criminal law
- Our firm has seven (7) former prosecutors
- Three (3) of our attorneys were former assistant county prosecutors and held directorial positions of the Drug, Gang, and Gun Task Force, Major Crimes Division, Trial Division, and Juvenile Division
- We have multiple attorneys selected to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 or Top 40 Under 40
- Two (2) of our lawyers were recently selected to Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2021 list for New Jersey which is a highly credentialed, peer-influenced, third-party validated, and a patented process that selects only 2.5% of the attorneys in New Jersey to this list
- One (1) of our attorneys is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Criminal Trial Attorney, a distinction held by less than 1% of attorneys in this State