MAYS LANDING — An Atlantic City man has been sentenced to 14 years in state prison after a Galloway Township traffic stop led police to two handguns, including one authorities said had been converted to fully automatic fire, and 100 bags of suspected heroin or fentanyl.
Nathaniel Fisher, 34, was sentenced Tuesday by Superior Court Judge Donna Taylor, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office.
Fisher previously pleaded guilty to second-degree possession of a firearm while committing a controlled dangerous substance offense, second-degree certain persons not to possess weapons and third-degree possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute.
His 14-year sentence includes a five-year period of parole ineligibility.
The case began with what appeared to be a routine traffic stop Oct. 22, 2025.
Galloway Township police stopped a vehicle because the registered owner's driver's license was expired, prosecutors said. Police subsequently determined the woman driving the vehicle had a suspended license.
Joshua Brickhouse, 35, of Egg Harbor Township was sitting in the front passenger seat.
According to prosecutors, Brickhouse told police the vehicle was registered to his mother. Officers also determined he had a $1,500 traffic warrant and asked him to get out of the vehicle.
That's when police said they spotted a handgun in plain view beneath the front passenger seat.
Authorities identified the weapon as a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson equipped with a 30-round ammunition magazine and a switch that made the weapon fully automatic.
Police then ordered everyone out of the vehicle and conducted a further search.
A second firearm — a 9mm Luger handgun with an extended magazine — was found inside a backpack on the floor near Fisher's feet in the back seat, according to the Prosecutor's Office.
Fisher's identification was also inside the backpack, prosecutors said.
Officers additionally found 100 bags of suspected heroin or fentanyl in the rear passenger area where Fisher and a woman had been sitting.
Police recovered empty baggies, sandwich bags and a digital scale from the vehicle, according to prosecutors.
Authorities said Brickhouse had more than $1,000 in cash and Fisher had more than $100.
Both Fisher and Brickhouse have previous convictions that prohibit them from possessing firearms, according to the Prosecutor's Office.
Fisher ultimately pleaded guilty to the firearms and narcotics charges and received the 14-year state prison sentence.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office Gangs, Guns and Narcotics Unit prosecuted the case.
Brickhouse's case is not yet finished. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 8.
