January 31, 11

NEWS / Passaic County Man Sentenced to State Prison for Conspiring to Illegally Sell Weapons to an Undercov

TRENTON - Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a Passaic County man was sentenced to state prison today for conspiring to illegally sell handguns.

According to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli, Wilfredo Santiago, 28, of Paterson, was sentenced to four years in state prison with two years of parole ineligibility by Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan in Morris County. Santiago’s sentence was based on his guilty plea to third-degree conspiracy to possess and sell handguns. The charge was contained in an Aug. 23, 2010 state grand jury indictment.

In pleading guilty on Jan. 5, Santiago admitted that between Nov. 27 and Dec. 6, 2006, he conspired to arrange the sale of two handguns – an Iver-Johnson .38-caliber revolver and a Davis Industries Model P-380 .38-caliber handgun - to another individual who, unbeknownst to Santiago, was an undercover detective assigned to the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.

Former Sergeant John Delesio, Detective Vincent Gaeta, Analyst Kathleen Ratliff, and former Deputy Attorney General John J. Higgins were assigned to the investigation. Deputy Attorney General Dennis Kwasnik represented the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at the guilty plea and sentencing hearings.

http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases11/pr20110128e.html