A 20-year-old New Jersey man admits he used Twitter to sell guns and recruit gang members, prosecutors said Friday.
Bomani Duncan, of Bloomfield, made the admission as part of a plea deal. He's expected to be sentenced to 10 years in New Jersey state prison and must serve at least half that before he is eligible for parole.
The charges stem from a March 17, 2015 robbery during which Duncan used Twitter to arrange to meet a woman in a parking lot in East Orange, according to prosecutors. He stole $200 from her, officials say. Later that night, he was arrested with a silver .38-revolver and an imitation firearm.
According to court documents, Duncan admitted using Twitter to try to sell a gun to 20-year-old Yasin Shabazz, a co-defendant in the case. Duncan also tried to get Shabazz to join a gang using the social network.
The gun Duncan tried to sell was recovered from his car and appeared in a photograph from his music video posted shortly after the robbery, prosecutors say. Duncan also admitted to possessing a second handgun on Sept. 30, 2015. That one was found in his black Mercedes while he was out on bail for the first gun charge.
“The Internet is not a magical place where the law does not apply," Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Joseph Giordano said in a statement. "This case clearly shows that old laws still apply in the digital world."
Shabazz pleaded guilty to attempting to buy an illegal firearm. He admitted using Twitter to try to buy it from Duncan, officials say. Another co-defendant, 22-year-old Taquan Williams, pleaded guilty in connection with the theft of the woman. Williams also pleaded guilty to an unrelated burglary and theft prior to the robbery in the parking lot. He and Shabazz are from East Orange.
All three men are set to be sentenced in September.
