Camden Man Makes Initial Appearance in Interstate Gun Trafficking Case

A Camden man who was among five Camden County men and a woman from South Carolina who have been charged with federal firearms violations made his first appearance in federal court on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office.

Joseph Rutling, 23, of Camden, was among those charged with conspiracy to traffic in a firearm without a license following the investigation led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The others are:

Marcus Rutling, 32, of Camden and Saluda, South Carolina;

Katelynn Schippnick, 24, of Greeleyville, South Carolina;

Shawn Tribbett, 32, of Camden; and

Anthony Gilmore, 24, of Lawnside.

Tribbett and Lewis DiMatessa, 37, of Clementon, are also each charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Over the course of the investigation, ATF special agents used a confidential informant to purchase at least 22 firearms from illegal gun brokers and dealers, including an assault rifle, shotguns, handguns and ammunition, as well as a bullet-proof vest, according to documents filed in this case and statements made in court.

The Rutlings allegedly sold guns – including the assault rifle – and ammunition out of several locations in Camden and Lawnside.

The complaints charging them detail several alleged transactions, including a sale in which the defendants provided the informant with a short-barreled shotgun out of their house in Camden.

The men allegedly said they obtained the firearms in South Carolina and brought them to New Jersey on a weekly basis, at times using Amtrak trains to transport the guns.

Gilmore allegedly sold handguns, shotguns and a bullet proof vest, mostly from a house on LaPierre Avenue in Lawnside, with Tribbett and Schippnick serving as brokers for the transactions.

Tribbett, a previously convicted felon, allegedly brokered a deal in which DiMatessa, also a convicted felon, sold a rifle to the informant.

The conspiracy to traffic in firearms without a license charge carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison.

The felon-in-possession of a firearm charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison.

Each count also carries a maximum $250,000 fine.