Atlantic City, NJ, Man Admits Having Gun, Now Faces Years in Prison

An Atlantic City man now potentially faces years in prison after being caught with a stolen gun and it all started with police finding his car idling.

On Thursday, 29-year-old Dashawn Stotts pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful possession of a handgun without a permit.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Stotts is expected to be sentenced to five years in state prison with a period of 42 months of parole ineligibility.

It was on December 11th of last year when Atlantic City Police located a gray Ford Explorer left running with no one inside in the 1700 block of Atlantic Avenue.

Stotts approached police and identified himself as its owner. An ACPD K-9 then conducted an open-air sniff of the vehicle and subsequently made a positive indication for narcotics.

Officers conducted a search of the vehicle and located 8 grams of suspected crack cocaine, one wax fold of suspected heroin, 29 Oxycodone pills, prescription Codeine pills, and 39 grams of marijuana.

The narcotics offenses were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Although the State objected, Stotts was released pending sentencing, which is scheduled for January 5th.