The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office recently announced the disruption of a gun trafficking organization, headed by Larry Williams, which illegally obtained and sold 94 firearms across Bucks, Chester, Columbia, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, and York counties.
Photos courtesy of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office
To view the affidavit of probable cause, you can click here.
From the press release:
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub, Pennsylvania State Police Captains Michaelann Andrusiak and Gerard McShea, ATF Philadelphia Field Division Special Agent in Charge Eric DeGree and Abington Township Police Chief Patrick Molloy announce the dismantling of a gun trafficking organization that purchased 94 firearms and attempted to purchase an additional 23 firearms in counties across the state, then illegally resold them throughout the Southeastern region of Pennsylvania. The eight defendants, all from Philadelphia, were arrested on dozens of felony charges related to straw purchases of firearms, illegally transferring firearms, operating a corrupt organization and other charges.
Arrested were Larry Williams, age 40, who was responsible for directing the purchases of the firearms, selling the majority of the illegal firearms and was also involved in trafficking illegal drugs; Robert Cooper III, age 23, purchased 41 firearms and attempted to purchase an additional eight firearms in less than two months; Ziair Stenson, age 26; purchased 36 firearms and attempted to purchase an additional seven
firearms; Malik Rowell-Jernigan, age 24, purchased eight firearms and attempted to purchase an additional three firearms; Kevin Lester Logan, age 24, purchased three firearms; Daynell Jones, age 40, purchased three firearms; Zakayla S. Deshields, age 22, purchased three firearms; and Shadiid Smalley, age 23, attempted to purchase five firearms.
These firearms purchases were all “straw purchases,” which is when a person with a clean background purchases firearms specifically on behalf of another person to conceal the true ownership of the firearm. The true owner of the firearm is commonly prohibited from purchasing a firearm. Persons who are unable to legally purchase a firearm would include convicted felons, domestic violence misdemeanants, juveniles and mentally ill individuals.
The investigation into this gun trafficking organization began in June 2022 when the Montgomery County Detective Bureau initiated an investigation into the illegal activities of this gun trafficking organization following information uncovered during an unrelated investigation. From there, law enforcement began following the multiple purchases of firearms by the defendants through the Electronic Record of Sale (EROS) system and through hard copies of ATF and Pennsylvania State Police forms at gun stores. Detectives used surveillance, interviews, information from law enforcement agencies, call detail records and cellphone downloads, social media analysis, tracking cash transfers, inspection of forms used in purchasing firearms and other methods of investigation.
Law enforcement organizations participating in this investigation were the Montgomery County Detective Bureau’s Violent Crimes Unit; Office of Attorney General’s Gun Violence Task Force; Bucks County Detective Bureau; U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Pennsylvania State Police; Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole; FBI Bucks Montgomery Safe Streets Task Force; U.S. Marshal’s Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force; New York State Police and
multiple police departments including Abington Township Police, Philadelphia Police, Middletown Township Police, Wolcott (Conn.) Police, Darby Police, New York City Police and the Pittsburgh Police.
Of the 94 straw purchased and illegally sold firearms, 29 were recovered by law enforcement to date. The firearms have been recovered during the execution of search warrants related to other criminal activity, car stops and while being used in violent crimes. The most recent recovery occurred Feb. 10, 2023 in Pittsburgh. That particular firearm was illegally purchased in March 2021, which leads investigators to believe this firearm was involved in illegal activity the entire time, from time of purchase until the
law enforcement seizure. Other violent crimes where firearms purchased by this gun trafficking organization were recovered including an Oct. 7, 2021 gunpoint robbery in Wolcott, Conn.; a Jan. 10, 2022 shooting in Philadelphia, where a firearm purchased by this gun trafficking group was found at the scene; an Oct. 22, 2022 shooting in Philadelphia where a fleeing suspect dropped the firearm in a trash bin; and others recovered during arrests of defendants involved in drug trafficking.
While Williams was a Person Not to Possess a Firearm, which means he could not purchase, own or possess a firearm, he was physically present at gun shows or drove other members of the corrupt organization to gun stores to purchase the firearms. In other instances, Williams directed the firearm purchases via text messages with members of the corrupt organization. Once purchased, numerous captured text conversations show that Williams was able to quickly sell the firearms, often with
multiple buyers interested in purchasing. In one instance, Williams sold a military-style rifle within an hour.
“Gun trafficking is a serious crime that endangers our communities since these illegal firearms are sold on to people who can’t buy their own guns. Many of these guns were recovered by law enforcement after being used in violent crimes, not only locally but traveling out of state, which is a threat to public safety and every law-abiding citizen,” said DA Steele. “Law enforcement is committed to fighting these illegal gun sales and gun trafficking organizations whose sole purchase is to make money by arming
criminals.”
“The members of this gun trafficking organization managed to obtain and sell nearly 100 illegal firearms. Far too frequently these weapons end up in the hands of dangerous individuals to be used to commit crimes and fuel gun violence in our communities,” said Acting AG Henry. “I am grateful for the hard work of all the agencies who partnered in this investigation. Together, we will continue to fight hard to stop the
trafficking of firearms in our state and make Pennsylvania safer for all who live here.”
District Attorney Weintraub emphasized the violence associated with illegal firearms. “After these guns were purchased illegally, many were then used by criminals to commit violent crimes,” said Weintraub. “Working together, our goal is to deter straw purchases by vigorously investigating each one and holding the gun purchasers and end users criminally accountable. This requires relentless commitment by law enforcement. We will not rest. More to come.”
The ATF’s Philadelphia Field Office was an integral part of this case. “The primary goal of ATF’s firearms trafficking strategy is to prevent violent crime by disrupting and dismantling the firearms trafficking organizations and networks responsible for supplying violent offenders with crime guns,” said SAC DeGree. “The firearms that were illegally purchased and distributed in this investigation can cause havoc on the streets for many years to come. ATF is committed to collaborating with our local, state and
federal counterparts to disrupt firearms trafficking schemes and holding those individuals accountable.”
PSP Captain Michaelann Andrusiak also noted the cooperation among law enforcement. “The Pennsylvania State Police, and the Drug Law Enforcement Division appreciate the relationships we have with local, state and federal agencies,” said Andrusiak. “The effort each imparts on a case such as this one demonstrates our unwavering commitment to making the communities where we live and work a safer
place for all people. That is always our goal and I feel we achieved that with this case.”
The defendants were arrested on various criminal charges, but all include felony counts of Corrupt Organizations, Conspiracy and firearms charges related to illegal purchase and sales. Other charges include Dealing in Proceeds of Unlawful Activities, Criminal Use of Communications Facilities, Materially False Statements and multiple related offenses.
On Feb. 21, 2023, defendants Cooper and Rowell-Jernigan were arrested and arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Henry J. Schireson, who set Cooper’s bail at $250,000 cash and Rowell-Jernigan’s bail at $50,000 cash. Both were unable to post bail and were remanded to MCCF.
Williams was arrested on limited charges on Jan. 6, 2023, during a straw purchase of firearms and since then, has been in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility (MCCF). Williams will be arraigned later today on the new charges. Jones, Smalley and Stenson were arrested today and are awaiting arraignment later today along with Williams.
Arrest warrants have been issued for Deshields and Logan. Anyone with information about their whereabouts is asked to call Montgomery County Detectives at 610-278-3368. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11:30 a.m., March 7, 2023, before Magisterial District Judge Cathleen Kelly-Rebar. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney William Highland, the Captain of the Firearms Unit.
Approved for release:
Kevin R. Steele