Keyport Pawn Owner Tied To Jersey City Cop Killing Pleads Guilty

KEYPORT, NJ — The owner of a Keyport pawn shop pleaded guilty Wednesday to illegal gun ownership, in a case that was connected to the hours-long police standoff in Jersey City last December, where Jersey City police officer Joseph Seals was killed.

Ahmed A-Hady, 36, of Keyport, pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a firearm, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. A-Hady is a convicted felon, and thus prevented from owning a gun in New Jersey.

A-Hady was arrested in December 2019 after a handwritten note with his phone number on it was found in one of the shooter's pants in the Dec. 10, 2019 Jersey City shooting.

The standoff started after a man and a woman, David Nathaniel Anderson, 47, and Francine Graham, 50, killed three civilians inside a Jewish grocery store in the Greenville section of Jersey City. They then barricaded themselves inside the store, and fired at police in an hours-long standoff.

Moments before they entered the market, they killed a Jersey City police officer, Seals, after he stopped to question them in nearby Bayview Cemetery.

The shooters were ultimately killed by the Jersey City police.

The shooting was investigated by police as a hate crime, Anderson had previously expressed anti-Semitic and anti-law enforcement beliefs.

After the shooting, law enforcement recovered from Anderson’s right rear pants pocket a handwritten note that contained a telephone number ending in 4115, and a Keyport address. Law enforcement also recovered several weapons carried by Anderson and Graham, including an AR-15 rifle.

FBI agents determined that the phone number traced to A-Hady. On Dec. 13, FBI agents traveled to the Keyport pawn shop and interviewed A-Hady and two of his relatives; they also searched both the pawnshop and A-Hady’s home. The Asbury Park Press reports that the pawn shop is owned by A-Hady's father and A-Hady lives above it on the second floor.

During the search of the pawnshop, agents recovered multiple rifles, handguns and one shotgun. In addition, police recovered more than 400 rounds of ammunition, including a large number of hollow-point bullets.

One of the weapons recovered from the pawnshop was a Sig Sauer .22 caliber rifle capable of accepting a large-capacity magazine. Records showed that A-Hady purchased this rifle in Florida on Oct. 23, 2012, a time when he, as a convicted felon, was prohibited from possessing firearms, said the U.S. attorney..

A-Hady is facing up 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 9, 2021.

Moshe Hersh Deutsch, 24, and Leah Mindel Ferencz, 33, who owned the kosher grocery store with her husband, were identified as two of the civilian victims, according to The Record. A 48-year-old customer was identified by The Jewish Press as the third civilian victim.

Initial Patch report: 6 Killed In Jersey City Shooting Standoff; Police Officer Dies (Dec. 10, 2019)