Sonya Deville faced legal trouble when she was taken into custody on February 19 in Atlantic City, New Jersey for possessing a firearm without the proper New Jersey permit.
The gun was discovered in the glove box of her vehicle, prompting the police to intervene. Deville was arrested and charged with unlawfully possessing a weapon. She acquired the firearm for personal protection following a kidnapping attempt in 2020 during a home invasion in Florida. Although the gun was legally registered in Florida, it did not have the necessary registration in New Jersey.
Deville ultimately resolved the charge by successfully completing a six-month pretrial intervention program in late November, as reported by Courrier Post.
The 10-page memo said incarceration was “neither necessary nor appropriate” for “otherwise law-abiding persons who inadvertently violate New Jersey’s gun laws.”
It said those defendants must be under the “misimpression” that their possession of a weapon legal in their home state would also be lawful in New Jersey.
It said prosecutors, depending on the circumstances, could either consent to a pretrial intervention request or could pursue a non-custodial probationary sentence.
The option of a diversion program previously was available only in cases that presented “compelling and extraordinary reasons,” the memo noted.
