Former Newark School Teacher Sentenced to 40 Months for Dealing Firearms Without a License

TRENTON - A former Newark school teacher was sentenced today to 40 months in prison for conspiring to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without having a federal license to do so, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler ordered William Mayes, 42, of Irvington to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons by June 1 to begin serving his sentence. Judge Chesler also fined Mayes $1,500 and ordered him to serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison sentence.

Mayes remains free on $250,000 bail secured by his home pending his surrender.

Mayes pleaded guilty on July 5, 2005 to a one-count Information charging him with conspiring to deal in firearms without a federal license to do so. The statutory maximum penalty for that charge is five years in prison. However, under the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, he faced a range of between 37 and 46 months in prison, and the government argued for a sentence at the top of that range.

Mayes' wife, Cynthia Owens-Mayes, a now-former Irvington police officer, was aware of the weapons transactions and was prosecuted by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Mayes, who at the time was a teacher at the Ninth Grade Success Academy in Newark, was arrested by Special Agents of the FBI on Feb. 17, 2005, along with his wife and his brother-in-law, Jed Smurda.

"As a Newark teacher, a resident of Irvington and husband of a police officer, Mayes was keenly aware of the violence and misery that illegal guns bring to the neighborhoods of those cities," said Christie. "Given his background, we can only conclude that Mayes was driven by greed and cared nothing at all for the damage those guns would cause in the wrong hands. We're pleased with the lengthy prison sentence and hope others take notice."

The Information to which Mayes pleaded guilty states that, while he was employed as a school teacher, he and others, including Smurda, conspired to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without having a license to do so.

At his plea hearing, Mayes admitted that between November 2004 and February 2005, he conspired with Smurda to purchase firearms in Brenningsville, Pa. and transport them to New Jersey for resale to others. Mayes admitted that he and Smurda purchased a total of six Izmash Saiga 7.62 x 39 mm rifles in Brenningsville, Pa., and transported those rifles, as well as a shotgun and a large capacity magazine, to New Jersey.
Mayes admitted that he sold the six Izmash rifles and the large-capacity magazine to an undercover law enforcement officer and a confidential witness for a total of $10,400 in four separate transactions. Each of the transactions took place at Mayes' home in Irvington. Furthermore, Mayes admitted that he also discussed the sale of the shotgun, a separate sawed-off shotgun and additional Izmash rifles with the confidential witness.

Smurda previously pleaded guilty Dec. 13, 2005, to the same charge of dealing in firearms without a license. He was sentenced to six months in prison and six months of house arrest with electronic monitoring. Several factors resulted in a higher sentence for Mayes under the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, including the number of weapons he either trafficked or possessed, not all of which were connected to Smurda; his attempt to sell a sawed-off shotgun and the use of his minor son in directing him to get ammunition from within the house at one of the sales.

Cynthia Owens-Mayes had previously pleaded guilty to official misconduct charges in state Superior Court and received a probationary sentence and lost her job as a police officer.

In determining the sentences against Mayes and Smurda, Judge Chesler consulted the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which recommend appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The guidelines are advisory only, however, and Judge Chesler is not bound by them in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI Newark Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr., with developing the case against Mayes and Smurda.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Joseph Gribko of the U.S. Attorney's Office Violent Crime Unit in Newark.