Paterson Man Convicted After Tossing Homemade Gun with Drum Magazine During State Police Chase

It started with State Police troopers talking to a group of people on a Paterson corner. More than two and a half years later, it ended with a federal jury's verdict.

Kendale Wilson, 39, of Paterson, was convicted of being a felon in possession of ammunition after a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti in Newark federal court, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced Friday, Nov. 6.

Federal prosecutors said troopers were near Union Avenue and Jasper Street on April 6, 2024, when one of them noticed Wilson acting suspiciously. When the trooper approached, Wilson ran into an alley, prosecutors said. During the chase, according to the government, he pulled a privately manufactured firearm fitted with a high-capacity drum magazine from under his sweatshirt and threw it toward a residential driveway. The gun was loaded with 30 rounds, officials said.

The verdict turned on what was inside that gun.

Wilson jumped a fence and kept running before other officers caught him around the corner, prosecutors said. Investigators recovered the gun, the damaged drum magazine and 29 scattered rounds of 9mm ammunition from the driveway. The jury found Wilson guilty of the ammunition possession charge. The case was investigated by the ATF and the New Jersey State Police.

The charge carries a maximum of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for March 23, 2027.

Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.

Photo: New Jersey State Police vehicles (file photo). MOOOOOPS / Wikimedia Commons (public domain).