Lower Pottsgrove man guilty of gun trafficking

NORRISTOWN » A Lower Pottsgrove man did not react as a jury determined he spearheaded a gun trafficking network that included so-called illegal “straw purchases” at gun shows in Upper Providence.

Michael Hill, 31, of the 2900 block of Walnut Ridge Estates, was convicted in Montgomery County Court on Tuesday of 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 two attempted straw purchases that occurred between February 2015 and December 2016.

The jury of eight women and four men deliberated nearly eight hours over two days before reaching a verdict after a six-day trial.

However, the jury could not reach a verdict against Anthony “Tek” Walker, 29, of the 200 block of North Gross Street, Philadelphia, who prosecutors accused of conspiring 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.

Jurors expressed they were deadlocked in the case against Walker and so Judge Garrett D. Page declared a mistrial in Walker’s case. Walker left the courthouse without commenting about the outcome.

Prosecutors, who alleged Walker was “a close associate of Michael Hill’s,” can retry Walker on charges of corrupt organizations and various weapons- and conspiracy-related charges but have not made a final decision.

Hill did not comment on the verdict as he was escorted from the courtroom by sheriff’s deputies. Page revoked Hill’s bail and Hill will remain in the county jail until sentencing time.

“Mr. Hill is facing over 300 years in prison as a maximum possible exposure for the crimes he was found guilty of and we will be seeking a very significant state sentence as a result of what he did,” said Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ringwood.

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.

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.

“He recruited people to go and purchase firearms on his behalf. Mr. Hill is a person who is not allowed to possess firearms so he was unable to go and buy them for himself. So he recruited addicts and other vulnerable people to go in there, fill out the paperwork and lie on his behalf and purchase guns on his behalf,” said co-prosecutor Robert Kolansky.

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.

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 “mere presence” at the gun show with Hill and another of Hill’s conspirators is not evidence Walker was part of a corrupt organization.

During the trial, Ringwood and 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.

“Mr. Hill is facing over 300 years in prison as a maximum possible exposure for the crimes he was found guilty of and we will be seeking a very significant state sentence as a result of what he did.” — Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ringwood