A day after Gov. Phil Murphy said he was sending a "clear" message when he signed a package of gun safety bills, a judge stressed a similar message Thursday when he sentenced a Hamburg man to five years in state prison.

SUPERIOR COURT — A day after Gov. Phil Murphy said he was sending a "clear" message when he signed a package of gun safety bills, a judge stressed a similar message Thursday when he sentenced a Hamburg man to five years in state prison for manufacturing high-powered firearms.

Noting that the Legislature has deemed gun offenses as one of the "most serious" one could commit in the state, Superior Court Judge Stuart Minkowitz said, "A message needs to be sent to all that the possession of weapons, particularly in this case the possession of defaced automatic weapons with magazines which carry more than what would be permitted under law, hollow-nose bullets. ... There needs to be a clear message sent to anyone who would engage in such behavior that it comes with significant consequences."

Russell J. Watt, 39, in court Thursday was sentenced to five years in state prison, though he will be eligible for parole in roughly five months.

During a hearing in March, where Watt pleaded guilty to second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and third-degree unlawful manufacturing of a weapon, Assistant Prosecutor Jerome Neidhardt filed a motion to waive the Graves Act in the case, which would require the imposition of a minimum term of imprisonment and parole ineligibility for certain gun-related crimes. Under the statute, Watt would have faced 42 months of parole ineligibility.

The statute requires that the granting or denial of the waiver must be made by the county's assignment judge, and Minkowitz holds that title for the Morris/Sussex vicinage.

Minkowitz granted the waiver and instead imposed a one-year term of parole ineligibility. Since Watt has been incarcerated in the county jail since his arrest on Nov. 14, 2017, he was credited with 212 days if time served and will be eligible for parole in five months.

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The arguments by counsel

Neidhardt argued in court for the five-year prison term while Watt's attorney, Ilya Kraminsky, argued for non-custodial probation.

Watt was applying retroactively for a firearms purchaser card when police discovered multiple unregistered guns, erased of any serial numbers, at his workplace, MJS Precision, located across from the Franklin Police station on Corkhill Road.

Kraminsky said Watt was always "forthcoming, cooperative and truthful" with officers during questioning.

In 2014, Watt had applied for a firearms purchaser card in Hardyston, Kraminsky noted, but had never received a response after making numerous calls to the police chief.

Watt was arrested in 2015 on a fourth-degree drug charge and placed in the pre-trial intervention program, which he successfully completed in 2016.

He had re-applied for his permit through Hardyston in 2015, but was denied due to his arrest.

After an investigation by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Kraminsky said no evidence was found that indicated Watt sold or transported any firearms to anyone. There was also no evidence that his firearms were used in an illegal manner or in any crimes, he noted.

"It was a hobby for him. Most of the weapons found were at his home or at his business and were inoperable," Kraminsky said. "Most of the weapons recovered were older weapons that he was trying to restore so these weapons can be mounted as artwork. It was simply a hobby and nothing more."

Neidhardt said, "What do you do with somebody who's making guns like this that we have no clear idea of what he was going to do with them?"

Indicating the reality of the world we live in, with shootings happening "once a day, once a week," Neidhardt said, "We have no indication that he was going to shoot anybody or go to the 13th floor and start shooting, but that's the world we live in."

Neidhardt also raised concern that since Watt is a skilled machinist and has the technology and computer programs, he has the ability to go anywhere and continue to manufacture guns.

Watt, speaking briefly in court, said he "never meant to hurt anybody" and was "very, very sorry" for what he did.

Prior to handing down his sentence, Minkowitz raised concerns that while he believed Watt was remorseful and had been cooperative with police, he feared the risk of re-offense and saw the need to deter Watt from future activity.

In a video on his phone retrieved by the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office, Watt is seen shooting multiple rounds from a high-powered firearm into the woods as a young child runs up to him. The young child was identified in court as Watt's 3-year-old son.

Minkowitz said the gun in the video failed to operate in conformance with its original intent as a fully automatic firearm, so the shell casings did not come out and had jammed. Had the gun worked as intended, the shell casings would have come out "boiling hot" and the child would have been in danger.

He also reiterated Neidhardt's point that there are still a lot of concerns in the case, such as the inability to trace the guns since the serial numbers were wiped away.

After handing down the sentence, Minkowitz told Watt, "I want to make sure you never come back here again. Your son depends upon you. ... You have the rest of your life to live; live it. Not here."

Watt was also sentenced to a concurrent three years in prison for the third-degree charge of unlawful manufacturing of a weapon and his remaining 10 charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.

Watt had been deemed a "person of interest" when he was called to the Franklin Borough Police headquarters on Nov. 14, 2017.

After telling officers he wanted to apply for a firearms permit, Watt eventually admitted he was already in possession of several firearms he manufactured at his place of business, according to the affidavit of probable cause from his arrest.

During his interview with police, Watt admitted to repairing and modifying firearms for customers, but no additional details as who those customers were have ever been revealed.

A total of 11 guns were seized from his workplace. Also seized were hollow-point bullets, a large array of ammunition, four high-capacity magazines for assault weapons and multiple pieces to manufacture firearms.

A long gun with a high-capacity magazine and a handgun were located in his home. In addition, several hundred rounds of ammunition were found in his home and vehicle.

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Lori Comstock can also be reached on Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH, on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LoriComstockNJH or by phone: 973-383-1194.

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Editor's Note: The spelling of attorney Ilya Kraminsky's last name has been corrected above.