Two women admit roles in gun trafficking network
NORRISTOWN » Two women, one from Pottstown and another from Berks County, admitted to charges they illegally purchased guns for a multi-county gun trafficking network.
Maliqa Deja Jack, 26, of the 400 block of Chestnut Street, Pottstown, and Makayla Prince, 23, of the first block of Monroe Street, Mohnton, Berks County, each pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to felony charges of corrupt organizations, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, making false statements, criminal use of a communication facility and illegal sale or transfer of firearms in connection with a gun trafficking organization that allegedly relied heavily on so-called “straw purchase” schemes.
Judge Henry S. Hilles III deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete background investigation reports about the two women. Jack and Prince each remain free on bail pending sentencing hearings tentatively scheduled for March.
The women potentially face decades in prison on the charges.
Assistant District Attorney Samantha Arena is prosecuting the case. Defense lawyer Benjamin Cooper represented Jack during the guilty plea hearing. Defense lawyer Brian Thomas Newman represented Prince during the hearing.
Jack and Prince were among 14 people charged in February for their roles in the gun trafficking organization that operated in Montgomery, Berks, Bucks, Lancaster and Philadelphia counties.
At the time of the arrests, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele alleged the network illegally obtained and resold a total of 31 firearms using straw purchase schemes in the five-county area, putting “guns in the hands of people that are not allowed by law to buy their own guns.”
A straw purchase occurs when someone who is legally allowed to purchase a firearm purchases one and then gives it illegally to someone who is not permitted to purchase that firearm.
With the charges, prosecutors alleged Jack purchased seven firearms on behalf of the gun trafficking organization and alleged Prince purchased four firearms on behalf of the organization. That organization, officials alleged, was led by several people including, Alexander Aaron Smith, 21, of the 3000 block of Jolly Road, Plymouth Meeting, and Daveese Smith, 22, of the 800 block of Smith Street, Norristown.
The Smiths are awaiting trial on corrupt organizations and related charges, according to court records.
Detectives from the county’s Violent Crime Unit began tracking the multiple purchases of firearms by some of the alleged conspirators through the state’s Electronic Record of Sale (EROS) system and by reviewing state and federal gun purchase paperwork at gun stores. Detectives also used surveillance, interviews, information from law enforcement agencies, cellphone data and social media analysis to identify the suspects, according to court papers.
“One illegal purchasing spree conducted by members of this organization yielded nine handguns in eight days,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Montgomery County Detective Jeffrey Koch, Montgomery Township Detective Todd Walter and state police Trooper Brian Kedra. “The purpose of this corrupt organization was to illegally obtain and distribute numerous firearms to others.”