Chester man faces charges in straw gun purchase
A Chester man arrested for allegedly making six straw purchases of firearms in exchange for cash told investigators his crimes were “not worth it,” according to a release from District Attorney Jack Whelan Thursday.
Kenneth Jackson, 46, of the 900 block of Macadam Street, is charged with six counts each of firearm ownership and providing false information, firearm ownership and duty of another person, and tampering with public records, all felonies.
“We know that the vast majority of the illegal guns on the streets used for violence and crime are a result of straw purchases,” said Whelan in the release. “In the case of Mr. Jackson, he purchased these guns without any regard for the law, knowingly giving them to an individual he knew is a criminal and therefore perpetuating crime and violence in his very own community.”
County Detective David Tyler of the Gun Trafficking Unit launched an investigation Oct. 10 with Josh Nugent, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to the release.
Jackson purchased a 9 mm Taurus handgun from Targetmaster in Chadds Ford on that date, according to an affidavit of probable cause. He had purchased six other handguns from that same location since Seembert. 2013 and one from Philadelphia Training Academy, according to the affidavit. Three of those firearms had been recovered by authorities between 2014 and 2016, but none had been reported stolen, the affidavit states.
Tyler and Nugent interviewed Jackson Oct. 27 in reference to the firearm purchased Oct. 10 and he stated that it had been stolen along with another gun, according to the affidavit. He initially claimed not to have purchased any other firearms, but became nervous and claimed the other six guns also must have been stolen when presented with paperwork for those sales, the affidavit states.
When Tyler went through the paperwork with Jackson for each of the firearms, he allegedly admitted to buying six firearms for two people he believed could not buy the guns themselves in exchange for small amounts of money.
Jackson said that he was wrong for buying the guns for people he knew had previously been locked up, according to the affidavit, and that he only made the buys because he was “down on his luck” and needed cash for food and rent. Jackson also allegedly told investigators that the approximately $1,100 he received for the gun purchases was “not worth it.”
Jackson was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Wendy B. Roberts and remanded to the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in lieu of 10 percent of $500,000 bail. He faces a 5-year minimum mandatory state prison sentence under the Brad Fox Law if convicted on at least two charges.
Delaware County had the first conviction under the Brad Fox Law – named for a Montgomery County officer who was killed in the line of duty by a suspect who illegally acquired a firearm in a straw purchase – in the state after it went into effect in January 2013 and has so far convicted seven individuals under the heightened penalties for straw purchases.
Whelan is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone possessing illegal guns. Tips can be provided to the Gun Task Force at 610-891-4197 or by calling 911.
Deputy District Attorney George B. Dawson, Chief of the Anti-Violence Unit, is prosecuting. It was not known Thursday whether Jackson has a lawyer.