By:Alec Moore
A 53-year-old Hillsborough man was charged with two counts of possession of illegal weapons last week.
Nicholas Spadoro of Orchard Drive now faces one third-degree charge of possession of an assault rifle and a fourth-degree charge of possession of a "large capacity ammunition magazine."
Mr. Spadoro turned himself in to Hillsborough police April 23, and was released on $500 bail. According to Hillsborough police, a cache of roughly 80 weapons were discovered after an officer was dispatched to Mr. Spadoro’s home on a report of a domestic dispute on April 17.
Since the victim of the domestic dispute had been granted a temporary restraining order against Mr. Spadoro, he was required to turn over to police his firearm identification card and all weapons in his possession.
Police say Mr. Spadoro then turned over one handgun from a bedroom closet to the officer.
Upon returning home later that night, the domestic dispute victim then discovered a second weapon on a shelf in a home entertainment center. She then notified police of the discovery of the additional weapon.
Following a subsequent investigation, police were then informed by Mr. Spadoro that he had roughly 80 weapons in a basement storage closet.
Mr. Spadoro, a lawyer, told police the weapons had been given to him by a client in lieu of a $20,000 payment for his professional services. Hillsborough police confiscated the weapons and turned them over to the Somerset County prosecutor’s office for analysis.
One of the weapons confiscated was an illegal semi-automatic weapon, known as an M-1 carbine assault rifle, and two illegal ammunition magazines capable of holding 30 rounds per magazine.
Mr. Spadoro is slated to appear in state Superior Court in Somerville to face the two indictable illegal weapons possession charges.

