Authorities crush gun trafficking operation
NORRISTOWN » Montgomery County’s Violent Crime Unit crushed a Philadelphia man’s gun trafficking operation during which he purchased 36 firearms in eight counties in less than three months and illegally transferred them to others as part of a straw purchase scheme.
Daniel Sharif Lucas, 21, of the 5500 block of Irving Street, was arraigned on Monday before District Court Judge William Maruszczak on charges of corrupt organizations, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, unlawful transfer of a firearm, criminal use of a communication facility and making materially false statements in connection with incidents that occurred between July and October.
With the charges, authorities alleged Lucas, between July 7 and Sept. 28, purchased the 36 guns from gun shops in eight counties, including Montgomery, Berks, Chester, Delaware, Bucks, Lancaster, Schuylkill and Philadelphia.
“He’s a gun trafficker, putting guns in the hands of people not allowed to possess weapons. Straw purchasers of illegal firearms are a real problem in our region. It’s illegal, it’s dangerous and it’s a real problem to anyone who cares about saving lives,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said on Tuesday as he announced the arrest at a news briefing outside the county courthouse.
A straw purchase occurs when a person with a clean background purchases firearms on behalf of another person to conceal the true ownership of the firearm. Those who are unable to legally purchase firearms include convicted felons, domestic violence offenders, juveniles and mentally ill individuals.
Authorities said they recovered only one of the guns, a Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun, during an Oct. 19 traffic stop in Philadelphia of two males who were under the age to purchase or own a gun. Lucas had not reported that firearm, which he allegedly purchased on Aug. 2, or any of the 36 firearms as lost or stolen and he was not in possession of any of the guns at the time of his arrest, according to authorities.
“The other 35 guns are still in the hands of criminals and that should concern…every person who lives in southeastern Pennsylvania where he was buying all of these guns and where they may now be on the streets,” Steele said. “Getting those 35 guns back is key to making our community safe.”
Anyone with information about any of the firearms should contact county detectives.
Maruszczak set Lucas’ bail at $1 million cash. Lucas was unable to post the bail and he was remanded to the county jail to await a Nov. 23 preliminary hearing on the charges.
“This is a significant crime and one of the considerations on bail is public safety. He’s putting out a tool that is being used in violent crimes. Guns are dangerous,” Steele said.
Steele said Lucas turned 21, the legal age to purchase a firearm, on June 28 and nine days later he began his alleged “gun buying spree.”
The investigation revealed that on more than one occasion, Lucas allegedly visited more than one gun store in a day, purchased multiple firearms at the same time, including multiple purchases of the same make and model of a gun, and traveled great distances to make the purchases.
“Buying multiple guns of the exact same make and model is a red flag sign of a straw purchase,” Steele alleged.
Lucas purchased 13 firearms from gun shops in Lancaster County, nine from Bucks County stores, five in Chester County, four in Montgomery County, two in Delaware County, and one each in Berks, Schuylkill and Philadelphia counties, according to court papers.
The firearms included multiple Taurus 9mm semiautomatic handguns, Glock Model 44 .22-caliber semiautomatic handguns and a Ruger .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun, according to court papers.
“He got stopped because the Montgomery County Detective Bureau’s Violent Crime Unit routinely goes to the records of sales at area gun stores and looks for things like somebody making multiple purchases of guns, buying large quantities of guns,” Steele said. “I’m really proud of our team. These investigations are labor intensive. This is our effort to save lives and I firmly believe that that’s what we’re doing by trying to get these guns off the streets.”
Steele said county detectives took “a deeper dive” into the operation with the assistance of federal, state and other local authorities to uncover Lucas’ alleged scheme.
“Straw purchasers like Lucas need to be stopped and we need to have stronger tracking and reporting mechanisms in place to be able to flag this type of behavior before we have 36 firearms on the street,” Steele said.
Steele said gun store owners have the experience to be able to identify suspicious behavior and recognize straw purchase indicators and the ability to deny sales at any time.
“And sometimes they do. But if the sale seems off or seems strange they should notify law enforcement of the factors that led to their concern and let law enforcement do their job and investigate these potential illegal firearm purchases,” Steel said.
The Electronic Record of Sale system, part of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General’s Track and Trace Initiative, is also a key tool to help thwart straw purchases, Steele said.
“Some gun stores have embraced this new technology but not all, which means some gun stores are still recording firearms sales on hard copy paper and then sending them to the state police,” Steele said. “We’re asking these gun shops to do their part and get on this EROS system. People need to get up to speed with technology and implement the EROS system.”
Assistant District Attorney Scott Frame will prosecute the case.
Lucas’ arrest represented the third gun trafficking network that county authorities dismantled in the last three months. In September, nine adults and five juveniles were charged with running a gun trafficking network that included 44 guns and in October, five Norristown residents were charged with illegally obtaining or transferring 15 firearms using a straw purchase scheme.
Montgomery County detectives were assisted during the investigation by the FBI’s Bucks and Montgomery County Safe Streets Task Force, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Pennsylvania State Police, Office of the Attorney General’s Gun Violence Task Force, Philadelphia Police Department, West Chester University Police Department, Bensalem Police Department and Warminster Police Department.