Essex County Man Sentenced to 135 Months for Multiple Firearms Offenses, Including Possession of a Ghost Gun, a Machine Gun, and a 50-Round Magazine (DOJ)

NEWARK, NJ - An Essex County, New Jersey man was sentenced yesterday to over 11 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release for multiple firearms offenses, Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello announced.

Kaiyir Green, 23, of Newark, New Jersey, previously pled guilty in July 2025 before U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner in Trenton federal court to a four-count indictment charging him with two counts of possession of a firearm and/or ammunition by a convicted felon, one count of illegal possession of a machine gun, and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm.

According to documents filed in these cases and statements made in Court:

On March 1, 2023, law enforcement officers responded to a report of a stolen vehicle and saw Green trying to get into the stolen vehicle. When law enforcement approached, Green ran away. Law enforcement ran after Green, eventually apprehending him and recovering from him a ghost gun loaded with five rounds of ammunition. After Green was arrested, Green obstructed justice by making several phone calls from a recorded line at the detention center in which he directed another person to go to his home and remove "everything" including a "black bag." Law enforcement later saw someone remove a black bag from Green's home. Law enforcement searched the bag and found a firearm that had been modified with a switch rendering the firearm into a fully automatic machine gun, loaded with one round of 9mm ammunition in a large capacity magazine. Law enforcement also found a 50-round capacity drum magazine. Further investigation revealed that Green was involved in trafficking dozens of firearms, including AR-style pistols, machine guns and multiple firearms with extended or drum magazines, from out of state into New Jersey where he then sold them to third parties.

Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello credited law enforcement members with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Newark Field Division, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas Kalogiros; the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Acting Superintendent Lieutenant Colonel David Sierotowicz, and Elizabeth Police Department, under the direction of Chief Giacomo Sacca, with the investigation leading to the charges.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorney Rachelle M. Navarro of the Bank Integrity, Money Laundering, and Recovery Unit in Newark.

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Defense counsel for Green: Claressa Lowe, Esq.