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Mariusz Cebula, 36, previously admitted knowingly possessing five machine guns, which are defined as weapons that can shoot more than one shot automatically without manual reloading by a single function of the trigger – and are illegal under federal law.
He also agreed to forfeit to the government an additional 12 machine guns and machine gun parts, all of which were possessed illegally, as well as 10 other firearms and firearm parts.
He got most of the weapons through purchases at gun shows from unlicensed gun sellers and on the Internet, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.
Ringwood ranked number six on the list of top ten cities in New Jersey where guns were seized in 2015, behind Newark, Paterson, Trenton, Jersey City and Camden, according to data published by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Of the 93 guns recovered out of Ringwood that year – putting it sixth on the New Jersey list -- the “overwhelming majority” (about 80) were recovered from Cebula’s home, Fishman said.
Local authorities said they discovered the weapons while serving a restraining order on Cebula at his home in July 2015.
They also reported finding 262 high-capacity magazines for firearms, as well as dozens of other firearms components, ammunition, accessories and manufacturing tools.
Federal agents arrested him last March following an investigation, Fishman said.
Some of the weapons were found to be operational as automatic weapons, the U.S. attorney said.
They included a 9mm Lugar, "assembled using a machine gun receiver of unknown origin and original STEN-type machine gun parts," and a C.G. Haenel 9mm MP-41 select-fire machine gun, Fishman said.
Cebula also had two short-barreled rifles and a silencer, he said.
Fishman credited special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Ringwood police. He also thanked the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office.
Handling the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney Sammi Malek of Fishman's Criminal Division in Newark.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton sentenced Cebula to three years of supervised release.
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