Man admits to trafficking 36 guns in multi-county scheme
NORRISTOWN >> A Philadelphia man admitted to operating a gun trafficking organization during which prosecutors said he purchased 36 firearms in eight counties in less than three months and illegally transferred them to others using straw purchase schemes.
Daniel Sharif Lucas, 23, of the 5500 block of Irving Street, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to 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 2020.
The open guilty plea means Lucas as no deals with prosecutors regarding his potential sentence.
Judge Wendy G. Rothstein will have sole responsibility for imposing the sentence. Rothstein deferred sentencing until March 28 so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Lucas.
Lucas, who is represented by defense lawyer Michael Walker, potentially faces decades in prison on the charges and he remains in the county jail while awaiting sentencing.
With the charges, prosecutors alleged Lucas, between July 7 and Sept. 28, 2020, purchased the 36 guns from gun shops in eight counties, including Montgomery, Berks, Chester, Delaware, Bucks, Lancaster, Schuylkill and Philadelphia, during the straw purchase scheme.
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.
“It got up to be eight counties where he would drive hours and hours and buy multiple firearms,” said Assistant District Attorney Scott Frame, who vowed to argue for a significant prison term against Lucas.
At the time of Lucas’ arrest in November 2020, authorities said they recovered 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 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.
Authorities said only 9 of the 36 guns linked to the gun trafficking scheme have been recovered.
“The danger here is when you have a gun epidemic going on right now this is just adding fuel to the fire because now these guns are going to be turning up in potential shootings and homicides. There’s still 26 of them out on the streets and that’s why our office took the case so seriously. The effects of his actions are going to be around for a long time,” Frame said.
Authorities said Lucas turned 21, the legal age to purchase a firearm, on June 28, 2020, and nine days later he began his “gun buying spree.”
The investigation revealed that on more than one occasion, Lucas 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.
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.
Lucas’ operation was dismantled by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau’s Violent Crime Unit which routinely reviews the records of sales at area gun stores and searches for things such as somebody making multiple purchases of guns or buying large quantities of guns.
District Attorney Kevin R. Steele previously said county detectives took “a deeper dive” into the operation with the assistance of federal, state and other local authorities to uncover Lucas’ 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.