A Paterson man was found guilty by a federal jury of being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition, after prosecutors said he tossed a loaded, privately made firearm during a foot chase with state troopers in April 2024. Kendale Wilson, 39, now faces up to 15 years in federal prison and a fine of as much as $250,000 when he is sentenced in the spring of 2027.
The conviction came after a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti in Newark, according to RLS Media. The case stems from an encounter on April 6, 2024, when New Jersey State Police troopers patrolling near Union Avenue and Jasper Street in Paterson came across a group of people gathered near the intersection, as detailed by TAPinto Paterson. A trooper reportedly noticed Wilson acting suspiciously while talking with the group.
A Chase Through an Alley and Over a Fence
As the trooper approached, Wilson ran into a nearby alley, prompting officers to give chase, the same report notes. During the pursuit, he pulled a privately manufactured firearm equipped with a high-capacity drum magazine from beneath his sweatshirt and threw it toward a residential driveway, before jumping a fence and continuing to flee. Other officers ultimately caught up to him around the corner.
The firearm Wilson discarded was loaded with 30 rounds of 9mm ammunition, the report states. Investigators who searched the area afterward recovered the gun itself, along with a damaged drum magazine and 29 scattered rounds of 9mm ammunition from the driveway where it landed.
Federal Charges and the Road to Sentencing
Federal law generally bars people convicted of crimes punishable by more than a year in prison from possessing firearms or ammunition, a restriction at the heart of the case against Wilson. The U.S. Department of Justice, District of New Jersey, confirmed that a federal jury convicted the Passaic County man of possessing ammunition in a personally manufactured firearm, according to the agency's announcement.
Wilson is scheduled to be sentenced on March 23, 2027. The statute under which he was charged allows for a maximum of 15 years in prison for knowingly violating federal firearms-possession prohibitions, according to the text of 18 U.S.C. § 924 published by the U.S. House of Representatives. That statutory ceiling describes the maximum penalty available by law, not necessarily the sentence Wilson will ultimately receive.
