Morganville Man Part Of Illegal East Coast Gun Ring, Feds Say

MORGANVILLE, NJ — A Morganville man with a prior felony conviction was sentenced Wednesday to 60 months in prison for illegally possessing a gun and conspiring to illegally sell guns, including multiple handguns and a semi-automatic rifle, in and around Monmouth and Ocean counties.

Javier Rodriguez-Valpais, 33, aka “Broly,” of Morganville, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in firearms trafficking and one count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon. Police say he was part of an East Coast gun trafficking ring that spanned from Florida to New Jersey.

This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by federal prosecutors as it involved the sale of guns across state lines. Undercover FBI agents purchased the illegal guns on the black market. FBI agents in the Newark and Tampa field offices investigated this case, as did Freehold borough police, say U.S. attorneys.

From May 2020 through September 2020, Javier Rodriguez-Valpais and others sold guns under the gun ring.

Police say Rodriguez-Valpais sold a .223 caliber semi-automatic rifle to co-defendant Enrique Quijada, who in turn sold the rifle to an undercover FBI agent.

In July 2021 the U.S. Department of Justice launched five cross-jurisdictional strike forces to help reduce gun violence by disrupting illegal firearms trafficking in key regions across the country.

The strike forces are looking to stem the black market gun trade in five key market regions: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area/Sacramento Region and Washington, D.C.

According to gun trace data, a significant number of illegal guns recovered in the New York/northern New Jersey area originate from outside the area.

Sign up for Patch emails: https://patch.com/subscribe and don't miss important local news. Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com