Gun trafficking ring busted in Montco and Bucks County. How police say 94 guns were sold

Authorities Wednesday announced the arrest of a gun trafficking ring that illegally sold dozens of guns in Bucks and Montgomery counties and beyond, including ones that have been tracked to violent crimes around the state.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a news conference that investigators the counties and the Attorney General's Office tracked down eight people that illegally sold 94 firearms through the region.

Steele said the ring was run by Larry Williams, 40, of Philadelphia. The group conducted "straw purchases," and began operating in 2018, according to officials. Williams and seven others, all from Philadelphia, have been charged.

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What is straw purchasing?

Straw purchasing is when someone who is legally allowed to purchase a firearm, sells one to someone who is not legally allowed possess it. Those who cannot legally possess a firearm are convicted felons, those convicted of domestic violence, and people with diagnosed mental illness, according to the Montgomery County DA's office.

Straw purchasing and gun trafficking rings have been a focus of many Montgomery County investigations. Many people have been arrested in several county cases, many of which involved people or shops from Bucks County.

In many of these cases, investigators said the guns that were illegally purchased were used to commit crimes elsewhere.

“We are taking this very, very seriously," Steele said Wednesday.

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said before he won reelection in 2021, that his office would have a renewed focus on gun trafficking and straw-purchasing crimes.

“To put it bluntly, we are awash in a sea of illegal guns that are too easy to acquire," he said.

Police allege nearly 100 guns were illegally sold

Steele said this gun trafficking ring, which operated in southeastern Pennsylvania, sold 94 guns illegally.

Abington police allegedly came across the ring last year while conducting an unrelated investigation, which Steele declined to share details of. Detectives used surveillance, interviews, call detail records, cellphone downloads, social media analysis, cash transfers and inspection of purchasing forms to track down the organization, according to the DA's office.

In addition to gun shops, police allege the group also purchased guns at various gun shows in the state.

Williams, who was not legally allowed to possess a weapon, would direct the purchases through text messages with other members of the group, according to the DA's office. After the guns were purchased, Williams was able to quickly sell them, officials said.

Were the firearms recovered?

About 30 of the firearms have since been recovered by law enforcement while investigating other criminal activity. Investigators are still trying to track down the others.

The DA's office said that one was recently recovered in Pittsburgh, nearly two years after it was purchased.

Weapons sold illegally by the organization were found in an armed robbery in Connecticut in October 2021, and two shootings in Philadelphia in 2022, according to police.

What's next in the case?

Robert Cooper III, 23, Ziair Stenson, 26, Malik Rowell-Jernigan, 24, Kevin Lester Logan, 24, Daynell Jones, 40, Zakayla Deshields, 22 and Shadiid Smalley, 23, have all been charged along with Williams.

Their charges include felonies of corrupt organizations, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, criminal use of communications facilities and related offenses.

Everyone but Logan and Deshields have been arrested and jailed on bail.

A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for March 7.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Nearly 100 guns trafficked in Bucks, Montgomery County region