Gun trafficking trial continues
Jury deliberating fate of accused Lower Pottsgrove man and alleged accomplice
NORRISTOWN » A Montgomery County jury apparently has reached a partial verdict at the combined trial of a Lower Pottsgrove man accused of operating a gun trafficking network and one of his alleged Philadelphia conspirators.
After nearly four hours of deliberations on Monday, jurors notified Judge Garrett D. Page they had reached a verdict regarding only one of the defendants and indicated they were “struggling” on reaching a unanimous verdict in the case against the second defendant. However, jurors did not reveal for which defendant – Michael Hill or Anthony “Tek” Walker - they had reached a verdict.
The judge sent the jurors home about 8:30 p.m. and ordered them to return to court Tuesday morning to resume their deliberations.
Hill, 31, of the 2900 block of Walnut Ridge Estates, the alleged leader of the gun trafficking network, faces charges of corrupt organizations, criminal use of a communication facility, unsworn falsification to authorities, unlawful transfer of a firearm, person not to possess firearms and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities in connection with seven completed straw purchases and three attempted straw purchases that occurred between February 2015 and December 2016.
Walker, 29, of the 200 block of North Gross Street, Philadelphia, who prosecutors alleged conspired with Hill in an attempted straw purchase of two firearms at a Dec. 18, 2016, gun show at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Upper Providence, faces charges of corrupt organizations and various weapons- and con-
spiracy-related charges.
Hill did not testify during the trial.
Walker testified on Monday that he had no knowledge of and did not participate in any gun trafficking activities.
“There is no silencing the ring of truth. Michael Hill and Anthony Walker were in the black market business of buying and selling firearms. Michael Hill spearheaded this gun trafficking organization,” county Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ringwood argued during her closing statement to jurors.
During the trial, several people who admitted being involved in the conspiracy testified against Hill, identifying him in court as the person who recruited them to help make “straw purchases” so he could illegally obtain handguns. Many of the witnesses testified Hill supplied the funds, the transportation and was present for some of the straw purchases or attempted straw purchases at several gun shows in Upper Providence.
A straw purchase, detectives explained to the jury, occurs when the buyer of a firearm uses another person, a “straw purchaser,” to execute the paperwork necessary to purchase a firearm from a federally licensed firearms dealer.
But defense lawyer Pietro D’Angelo, who represented Hill, characterized the witnesses who testified against Hill as “corrupt and polluted” sources who cooperated with prosecutors to get lesser sentences for their own crimes.
“They all cut deals to save their skins,” D’Angelo argued to jurors. “Get Michael Hill. Isn’t that what this trial is all about? Get Michael Hill at all costs.”
A female conspirator testified Walker paid the fee for the background check at the Dec. 18, 2016, gun show when she filled out state and federal paperwork in an attempt to purchase two firearms for Hill. The purchases were subsequently delayed by the vendor, testimony revealed.
But defense lawyer Robert Craig Keller, who represented Walker, argued Walker had nothing to do with the gun trafficking activities. Keller argued Walker’s attendance at the gun show with Hill and another of Hill’s conspirators is not evidence Walker was part of a corrupt organization.
“Mere presence… doesn’t make a person guilty. Even though my client was present at that gun show… mere presence is not enough to convict,” Keller argued to the jury.
But during the trial, Ringwood and co-prosecutor Robert Kolansky presented testimony from detectives from the county’s Violent Crime Unit who linked Hill and Walker through surveillance and through alleged incriminating text message conversations they had on the day of the Dec. 18 gun show.
Detectives testified video surveillance showed Walker arriving at Hill’s Lower Pottsgrove home that day and then leaving together. A detective testified he later observed Hill, Walker and a female conspirator at the gun show walking from vendor to vendor, the same day the two attempted straw purchases occurred.
“The main purpose of this corrupt organization was to arm individuals, including Hill, who are precluded from legally owning a firearm… due to their criminal history,” county detectives alleged in court documents. “Hill recruited and employed individuals in this gun trafficking organization with ‘clean’ criminal histories. These underlings then falsified documents to purchase multiple firearms on Hill’s behalf.”
The joint investigation was conducted by the district attorney’s Violent Crime Unit, officers from the Pottstown, West Pottsgrove and Lower Pottsgrove police departments and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Detectives with the Violent Crime Unit testified that they used old-fashioned surveillance, cellphone records and search warrants to link Hill to the gun trafficking organization. Hill, detectives alleged, frequented various gun shows held at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Upper Providence and undercover detectives placed him under surveillance and observed Hill “walking from vendor to vendor and looking at various firearms and firearm accessories for sale.”
On Dec. 19, 2016, detectives, armed with a warrant approved by a judge, searched Hill’s Lower Pottsgrove residence. A detective testified that during the search, authorities seized three firearms and several empty gun boxes and 396 live rounds of various types of ammunition.