Wantage Township Man Sentenced For Assaulting State Trooper & Gun Crime

Friday, June 27, 2025, 7:30 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

WANTAGE TOWNSHIP, NJ.- According to Acting Sussex County Prosecutor Sahil Kabse, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, Andrew O’Connell, 41, of Wantage Township, New Jersey, appeared in Sussex County Superior Court and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Stuart A. Minkowitz to an aggregate term of three years in New Jersey State Prison for his previously entered guilty plea on charges in connection August 2024 domestic violence dispute.

     In handing down the sentence on Wednesday, Judge Minkowitz ordered O’Connell to serve a mandatory minimum of one year of his custodial term before becoming eligible for parole. O’Connell was given credit for having already served 316 days in pretrial custody. In addition, Judge Minkowitz ordered O’Connell to pay $455 in mandatory assessment fees and submit to DNA sampling.

     O’Connell previously appeared in Sussex County Superior Court in Newton, New Jersey, and pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Minkowitz to third-degree Aggravated Assault; third-degree Unlawful Possession of a Privately Manufactured Firearm; and third-degree Unlawful Possession of a Loaded Rifle.

Sentence Stems From A Domestic Violence Incident

     The charges, guilty plea, and sentence are the result of an incident that began on August 13, 2024, when members of the New Jersey State Police responded to a report of a domestic violence dispute that had occurred at O’Connell’s Wantage Township, New Jersey, residence. While O’Connell was being taken into custody, he physically assaulted a State Trooper. 

During The Subsequent Search, Weapons Were Found In The Home

     Following taking O’Connell into custody, a subsequent search of the home revealed that O’Connell was unlawfully in possession of several firearms, which were seized.