Two Atlantic City men released after pleading guilty in gun case

Two Atlantic City men are free after pleading guilty in a case where guns were found within reach of children.

Lenardo Caro, 31, pleaded guilty Thursday to possession of a weapon without a permit.

His uncle, 33-year-old Robert Caro-Green, pleaded guilty to the same charge in October.

Both face six-year sentences with 3½ years of parole ineligibility.

The men were arrested Sept. 24, 2021, after a three-week investigation by Detective Alberto Valles led the city’s Special Investigations Section and SWAT team to the home at 1536 Mediterranean Ave.

  

CARO

Police found a loaded Polymer 80 "ghost gun" under the living room sofa, with two more guns found upstairs.

They also found extended handgun magazines and ammunition, along with handgun molding kits, heat
sealer bags, a heat sealer machine, drug paraphernalia, and a safe containing a large amount
of marijuana.

A woman, Adaliz Feliciano, was also arrested at that time, but the charges against her were dropped after Caro and Caro-Green took responsibility, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office.

  

CARO-GREEN

During detention hearings shortly after their arrests, attorneys for all three said the parents wanted to be home for their children.

But the judge pointed out that those children had been put in danger by the actions in leaving guns within reach of them.

She also focused on the fact that Caro was just released from prison the previous November, after serving a three-year sentence on gun and assault charges related in a 2017 shootout between vehicles on the Atlantic City Expressway.

Caro was wounded in the incident, and another man was killed.

After both men pleaded guilty, Judge William Miller granted their release pending sentencing, despite the state's objections.

Caro-Green is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 18. Caro's sentencing is set for Feb. 14.