Feds: Felon linked to Jersey City shooter was selling weapons
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A bail hearing for a man whose number was found in the pocket of one of the perpetrators of last week's fatal attack on a Jewish market in Jersey City was halted and abruptly postponed Wednesday after prosecutors said they had evidence he was selling firearms from his pawn shop.
Police say 35-year-old Ahmed Hady, of Keyport, was found in possession of 10 illegal guns and 400 rounds of ammunition at his home and the pawn shop owned by his family.
Prosecutors told the federal judge they have evidence that Hady himself - as opposed to other members of his family - was buying and selling firearms. The 35-year-old was prohibited from possessing any firearms because of a previous felony conviction, prosecutors have said.
He hasn't been charged with providing any of the weapons used in the December 10 Jersey City shootings by two attackers authorities say were motivated by anti-Jewish and anti-law enforcement hatred.
Four people were killed, including a Jersey City police detective who was shot before the attackers drove to the market.
No date was immediately set for a new hearing.
After the shootout, a note was found in the pocket of David Anderson, one of two people killed by police after the hours-long standoff at the JC Kosher Supermarket.
Anderson and Francine Graham also killed Jersey City Police Det. Joseph Seals before driving about a mile to the store, where they killed three people inside, authorities said.
The victims inside the store were identified as 24-year-old Moshe Deutsch, 49-year-old Douglas Miguel Rodriguez, and 31-year-old Mindy Ferencz.
Anderson and Graham were armed with multiple weapons including an AR-15-style rifle and a shotgun, and a pipe bomb was also found in the stolen U-Haul van they drove to the market. Two of the weapons used by Anderson and Graham were bought by Graham in Ohio last year, police have said. It's not known where they got the three other guns.
The note contained a telephone number and a Keyport address, according to authorities. The number belonged to Hady, and the address was for a storefront for a pawn shop, officials said.
Records indicated that Hady had bought two handguns in 2007 before being convicted of a felony in 2012 that made him ineligible to own firearms.
When authorities went to the pawnshop and interviewed Hady, he acknowledged still owning the weapons but denied that they were on the premises.
But after receiving a tip about a safe, investigators searched the business and Hady's home and found weapons including three AR-15-style assault rifles, three handguns and one shotgun as well as more than 400 rounds of ammunition including a large number of hollow point bullets.
FBI agents were at a second pawnshop Monday that is connected to Hady in South Amboy.
Prosecutors told the judge Wednesday that direct and circumstantial evidence shows Hady was buying and selling rifles including AR-15 assault weapons. Shortly after that, the hearing was adjourned.
A-Hady's attorney had sought to have his client released on $100,000 bond secured by his family's residence and business.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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