Essex County, N.J., Man Admits Role In Armed Carjacking

NEWARK, N.J. – An Essex County, N.J., man today admitted his role in an armed carjacking in Newark on Nov. 8, 2012, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Nathaniel Tullies, 20, of East Orange, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of theft of a motor vehicle by force, violence, and intimidation, and one count of use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

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

On Nov. 8, 2012, when an individual got out of a 2006 Chevrolet Impala to open a garage door, Tullies and an accomplice got on either side of the car, took it from the victim at gunpoint and drove away. The victim called police, who responded within minutes.  A Newark police detective spotted the vehicle and a high-speed chase ensued, ending when the Impala crashed on the shoulder of Routes 1/9, the suspects fled on foot and the detective chased and captured Tullies.

The carjacking charge to which Tullies pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison. The firearms charge to which Tullies pleaded guilty is punishable by a minimum consecutive term of seven years in prison and a maximum consecutive term of life in prison. Each of these charges also carries a maximum $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited detectives with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the Direction of Acting Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray, and investigators in the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.  Sentencing is scheduled for April 28, 2014.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth M. Harris and Sara F. Merin of the Criminal Division in Newark.

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Defense counsel: Peter Carter Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark

Tullies Information