Weapons sting nets five
BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer

MARLBORO — Following an undercover FBI investigation, five individuals were arrested last week and charged with selling illegal weapons.

According to the FBI, John “Tattoo John” Velba, 48, of Marlboro, William “Schreiber” Lnu, 29, of Englishtown, Cheryl Britton, 30, of Englishtown, and Kevin Benn, 49, of Howell, were arrested on Nov. 1 by an FBI SWAT team at the Shurgard storage facility, Route 9, and at a residence on Texas Road.

Harold “Smitty” Smith, 23, of Marlboro, was arrested at a residence in Belmar, according to the FBI.

Authorities said Benn works as a corrections officer at East Jersey State Prison, Rahway.

All five individuals have been charged with conspiracy to sell firearms without a license. They were held without bail and were scheduled to appear before a federal judge for a hearing Nov. 7.

“Today’s arrests mark the culmination of a successful undercover operation; an operation that has taken a dangerous group of weapons peddlers off the street,” FBI Special Agent Leslie G. Wiser said.

Mike Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Newark, said, “It is our position that these people are a danger to the community.”

The undercover investigation began in May and continued until the beginning of November.

According to documents provided by the FBI, the amount of the sales for the weapons ranged from $600 to $7,500. Officials said 11 weapons were recovered, including AK-47 assault rifles, an automatic shotgun, handguns and several thousand rounds of ammunition.

According to the complaints filed against the individuals, other weapons that were sold to undercover agents during the course of the investigation included hand grenades, bulletproof vests, sniper rifles, shotguns and a Russian Mosin Nagant 7.62 mm rifle.