Upper Darby man gets time served in illegal gun buys
No supervision ordered
PHILADELPHIA » An Upper Darby man was given a sentence of time served with no supervised release in federal court last week after pleading guilty in June to 12 counts of providing false information to a federal firearms licensee.
Nafez Hutchings, 22, of the 7200 block of Walnut Street, bought 23 firearms in 12 separate transactions at stores in Philadelphia, Montgomery and Delaware counties between June 11 and August 24, 2020.
In each, Hutchings provided an address on Christian Street in Philadelphia on Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives forms and falsely certified that he was buying the firearms for himself when he was buying them on behalf of another person, according to an affidavit written by ATF Special Agent Eric Frye.
Hutchings was arrested last year after admitting that he bought the weapons for a man he knows by the name of “Jamal.” ATF agents interviewed Hutchings in September after learning that he had provided a bogus Philadelphia address when buying 13 guns from Tanner’s Sports Center in Jamison in August 2020, according to a criminal complaint. A Relator for that address confirmed no one by that name had ever lived there and the property was vacant.
The agents asked to see the 13 firearms Hutchins had purchased, but he initially said they were in storage and he would not have access to them for a week, the complaint says. Hutchins said he gave them to a friend named “Jamal” to hold for him because he knew he wasn’t allowed to have them in his apartment and acknowledged that he knew he did not use the correct address on ATF forms when purchasing them.
Hutchins later admitted to buying the guns for Jamal, however, and said that in addition to the 13 firearms agents already knew about, he had bought seven others from Treeline Sports in Norristown, one from Philadelphia Training Academy in Philadelphia, and one from Surplus Arms in Chester, according to the complaint. Agents later determined another purchase had been made from the Philadelphia Trainer Center. Hutchings used the Philadelphia address in each transaction, the complaint says.
Hutchings told the agents that he had known Jamal since childhood and that they came to a “mutual agreement” while talking one day that Hutchings would buy firearms for Jamal in exchange for $40 or $50, including gas money for his car.
Hutchings said that Jamal never told him what type of firearm to purchase and that he just tried to find different firearms that he thought Jamal would like, according to the complaint. Jamal would always give him money several days prior to purchasing the firearms and instruct him to buy them whenever he had time, the complaint says.
Because there was never any sense of urgency in these transactions, Hutchings said he did not believe he was doing anything wrong. Jamal also told Hutchings at one point that the guns were being used at a shooting range, according to the complaint.
In order to purchase firearms, buyers must sign ATF forms indicating all information is accurate — including their address — and that they intend to retain the weapon for themselves. The forms include the warning language, “Making any false oral or written statement, or the exhibiting of any false or misrepresented identification with respect to this transaction, is a crime punishable as a felony,” and, “Warning: You are not the actual buyer if you are acquiring the firearm(s) on behalf of another person.”
Defense attorney Mythri Jayaraman argued in a sentencing memorandum that Hutchings made poor decisions due to his youth, but also has no prior criminal history, understands the severity of his actions and has learned his lesson.
Hutchings spent 18 days in custody in Philadelphia and more than 10 months at a federal detention center, according to the defense memorandum. As part of the sentence, Hutchings was ordered to pay $1,200 and forfeit all 23 firearms.
Hutchings was arrested last year after admitting that he bought the weapons for a man he knows by the name of “Jamal.” ATF agents interviewed Hutchings in September after learning that he had provided a bogus Philadelphia address when buying 13 guns from Tanner’s Sports Center in Jamison in August 2020, according to a criminal complaint. A Relator for that address confirmed no one by that name had ever lived there and the property was vacant.