Phila. man sentenced to 3 decades behind bars
Part of criminal network that solid illegal firearms across three counties
NORRISTOWN » A Philadelphia man is headed to prison for up to three decades for his involvement in a gun trafficking organization that relied on straw purchase schemes to purchase and resell more than three dozen firearms to others in a three-county area.
Aaron Walker, 22, of the 2500 block of North Marshall Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 15 to 30 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of corrupt organizations, illegal sale or transfer of firearms, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with incidents that occurred between December 2019 and May 2021 in Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia counties.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman imposed the sentence and said all firearms seized during the investigation are to be forfeited to the county detective bureau for destruction.
Walker was one of three men charged in connection with the gun trafficking organization.
Nasim Smalls, 25, of the 300 block of North 52nd Street, Philadelphia, previously was sentenced to 6 to 20 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to corrupt organizations and related charges.
A third man, Tyrone V. Gresham, 26, of the 100 block of West Annsbury Street, Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to similar charges and is awaiting sentencing, according to court records.
Assistant District Attorney Samantha Arena prosecuted the case.
With the charges, authorities alleged the three men were involved in illegally obtaining and reselling 37 firearms, as well as one additional attempted purchase, in the three counties. The firearms included Glock .40-caliber and 9mm
handguns and Ruger 9mm handguns, according to court papers.
“The purpose of this corrupt organization was to illegally obtain and distribute numerous firearms to others,” detectives wrote in the criminal complaint.
The investigation began in May 2020, when the Montgomery County Detective Bureau looked into Gresham’s firearms purchases after multiple red flags indicated he was involved in “straw purchases” of firearms, according to court documents.
The investigation used surveillance, cellphone analysis, a review of federal firearms forms and state electronic firearms records, social media analysis, search warrants, interviews and other methods to identify the participants in the gun trafficking organization.
“The investigation revealed Gresham along with Aaron Walker and Nasim Smalls were members of a gun trafficking organization responsible for straw purchasing numerous firearms,” detectives wrote in the criminal complaint. “These firearms were purchased and then distributed.”
A “straw purchase” occurs when a person with a clean background purchases firearms specifically on behalf of another person to conceal the true ownership of the firearm. Persons who can’t legally purchase a firearm include convicted felons, domestic violence offenders, juveniles and mentally ill individuals.
Gresham, according to court papers, did not have any prior arrests and was legally allowed to purchase firearms. Smalls and Walker were not legally allowed to purchase or possess firearms, detectives alleged.
Specifically, authorities alleged Gresham made all of the purchases and Smalls and Walker directed which firearms to purchase and handled the sales of the firearms to other individuals. For many of the purchases, Smalls and Walker were waiting in a vehicle while Gresham was in a gun shop making the purchases.
Authorities alleged the investigation determined that Gresham purchased the firearms between Dec. 19, 2019, soon after his 21st birthday, and May 13, 2021, with the additional attempted purchase occurring on May 18, 2021.
Of the 37 firearms purchased by Gresham, 17 were purchased in Bucks County, 16 in Philadelphia and four in Montgomery County.
Only three of the 37 firearms had been recovered by authorities at the time of the arrests in July 2021.
One firearm was recovered on July 1, 2021, by Michigan State Police when they stopped a vehicle that was stolen out of New York. The other two were recovered by Philadelphia police during separate arrests on June 5, 2021, and June 13, 2021, according to authorities.
The investigation was led by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau’s Violent Crime Unit with assistance from Hatfield Township Police, FBI Bucks and Montgomery County Safe Streets Task Force, Bensalem Township Police, Philadelphia Police, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Pennsylvania State Police.