EATONTOWN – Two Monmouth County men have been charged with selling handguns that were stolen from an Eatontown-based FedEx warehouse, according to police.
John Sozomenou, 32, of Aberdeen, and James Dolan, 28, a resident of Keyport and a FedEx employee, are being charged by the Jersey City Police Department with 32 counts of unlawful possession of a weapon and receiving stolen property, according to police reports.
The men were charged after 75 handguns were reported missing from a FedEx warehouse located on IndustrialWayWest, according to police reports.
According to Jersey City Police Lt. Edgar Martinez, members of the department’sMajor Case Unit received an anonymous tip, leading officers to conduct a 48-hour stakeout of the Marion Gardens housing project located in the city, which resulted in the arrests of Dolan and Sozomenou.
According to Martinez, 11 of the handguns were recovered by city police, including two loaded handguns that were hidden in the air bag compartment of the suspects’ steering wheel.
“One of the handguns contained in the steering wheel was loaded, cocked and ready for use,” Martinez said.
Officials said they seized 10 semi-automatic pistols and a single revolver fromthe suspects’ Bronco. Police estimated their street value at roughly $350 to $500 each.
Eatontown police were made aware of the incident after receiving a report from the Ocean Township Police Department explaining that a township-based firearms importer had filed a report stating that the 75 handguns were missing, authorities said. Ocean Township Detectives reported that the importer had shipped a total of 100 Bersa S.A. .380-caliber semi-automatic handguns from its warehouse in Ocean Township to a wholesaler in Harrisburg, Pa., on May 21 via FedEx overnight delivery.
The wholesaler contacted the importer May 27 after receiving only 25 of the guns out of the shipment of 100, authorities said.
After FedEx employees were unable to locate the missing guns, the importer contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Ocean Township Police Department in order to report the weapons as stolen.
The Ocean Township Police Department began investigating the incident, but turned it over to the Eatontown Police Department after it was discovered that the weapons had been received by the FedEx branch on Industrial Way West.
FedEx employees were unable to confirm that the weapons had been shipped to their intended destination after being received at the warehouse, according to reports.
Eatontown police subsequently entered all 75 handguns into the National Crime Information Computer as stolen.
Approximately six hours after reporting the guns stolen, Eatontown police received a report advising themthat the Jersey City Police Department had arrested Dolan and Sozomenou for possession of nine of the stolen Bersa handguns, according to reports.
A follow-up investigation by the Eatontown Police Department led to the recovery of one additional stolen handgun at the house of an associate of Dolan’s. The handgun had been left at the residence by Dolan several days earlier, according to reports.
According to FedEx spokesperson Sally Davenport, FedEx has strict regulations regarding the shipment of firearms.
Customers agree to tender such shipments when either the shipper or the recipient is a licensed firearms dealer, manufacturer, importer or collector, Davenport said.
“The shipper and the recipient must be of legal age pursuant to local laws, and firearms cannot be shipped in the same package as ammunition,” Davenport said, adding, “Ammo is considered a dangerous good and must be sent in a separate package.
“The firearmmust also be shipped using FedEx priority overnight, the fastest service available,” Davenport explained
“The recipient can only accept the package after an authorized adult personally signs for the package. Those are the shipping regulations according to the FedEx service guide,” Davenport said.
At this time, 65 of the handguns are still missing and assumed to have been sold to individuals by Dolan and Sozomenou, authorities said.
– Daniel Howley and J.J. Sullivan III