By: Najla Alexander
Authorities in Atlantic County announced that on Wednesday, May 8, Rahiem Paige, 28, of Philadelphia, PA, was convicted of multiple firearm offenses, including certain persons not to possess a firearm and unlawful possession of a handgun, after a bench trial before The Honorable Bernard E. DeLury, Jr., P.J.Cr.
Officials stated the testimony and evidence during the trial revealed that on Labor Day weekend of 2022, the defendant traveled from Philadelphia to Atlantic City with his 16-year-old significant other to stay at Caesar’s Hotel and Casino.
While there, officials say, Atlantic City Police responded to the casino for a report of a domestic assault between the defendant and the 16-year-old, including allegations the defendant brandished a revolver during the incident.
According to officials, while police were on scene speaking to the domestic assault victim and trying to locate the handgun, the defendant could be seen on casino surveillance cameras walking towards the casino parking garage with a fanny pack and then returning to the casino without it.
A revolver was later found in the defendant’s rental car parked in the casino garage along with the fanny pack, officials said.
Authorities say despite extensive efforts by detectives from the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, as well as Philadelphia Police Department Special Victims Unit detectives, the victim could not be found for trial to testify to the assault.
Officials say the testimony of Atlantic City Police Officer Marquez Jones, Sergeant T.J. Moynihan, and Detective Robert Carty, Jr. helped convict the defendant of the firearm charges.
The defendant was on probation for institutional explicit contact and unlawful contact with a minor out of Philadelphia County at the time he committed this crime, officials said.
Officials stated the defendant’s sentencing date is June 20, 2024, where he faces a sentence range of five to 10 years in New Jersey State Prison with a mandatory parole ineligibility period of five years.