Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to 87 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Traffic Firearms into New Jersey

Thursday, July 2, 2026

U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey

TRENTON, N.J. – A Pennsylvania man was sentenced yesterday to 87 months in prison for his role in a firearms trafficking conspiracy that funneled unserialized guns from Pennsylvania into New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.

Evander Theus, 27, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner on February 11, 2026 in Trenton federal court to an Information charging him with conspiracy to traffic firearms.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Between April 2025 and August 2025, Theus, who was not a licensed firearms dealer, conspired with others to sell and traffic 47 firearms in Middlesex, New Jersey, which either had a defaced serial number or were privately made firearms (also known as “ghost guns”) lacking a serial number.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Castner sentenced Theus to 3 years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer credited special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Newark Field Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Beau Kolodka; and personnel with the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Acting Superintendent Jeanne Hengemuhle, with the investigation leading to the sentencing.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard G. Shephard and R. Joseph Gribko of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Trenton.

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Defense counsel: Andrea G. Aldana, Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Trenton.

Updated July 2, 2026