Camden Men Admit to Roles in Gun Trafficking Ring

Two Camden men admitted to their roles in a conspiracy to sell 22 guns without a license, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Marcus Rutling, a/k/a “Fresh,” 33, of Camden, and Saluda, South Carolina, and his brother, Joseph Rutling, 24, of Camden, both pleaded guilty to separate informations charging them each with one count of conspiring to deal firearms without a license and one count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.

They were among five Camden County men and a woman from South Carolina who had been charged with federal firearms violations last summer.

The others are:

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 that resulted in the charges led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (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 admitted to selling guns – including the assault rifle – and ammunition out of several locations in Camden and Lawnside.

The men 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.

Sentencing for Marcus and Joseph Rutling is scheduled for June 8.