Thomas Harris Jr., Firearms Trafficking, Pennsylvania 2020
A Bucks County man has been sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison for his role in a firearms trafficking scheme that smuggled nearly 40 guns to the island of St. Lucia.
United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced the sentencing of Thomas Harris Jr., 29, of Croydon, PA, who was found guilty of making false statements to a federal firearm licensee, dealing in firearms without a license, delivery of firearms to a common carrier without written notice, and smuggling goods from the United States.
The scheme involved Harris purchasing approximately 38 firearms in 12 transactions at two Bucks County gun shops between April 2019 and February 2020. During each transaction, Harris provided a false address as his place of residence on the required federal forms.
One of Harris’s packages to St. Lucia was intercepted by federal agents at the warehouse of a local shipping company. Inside, concealed in household items such as packages of diapers, cat litter and laundry detergent, the agents found seven Glock semiautomatic pistols, one Ruger semiautomatic pistol, two AK-47 pattern pistols, two AK-47 pattern rifles, two AR-15 lower receivers, two AR-15 upper receivers, ten high-capacity Glock ammunition magazines, seven additional assorted ammunition magazines, and 815 rounds of ammunition.
By shipping high-powered firearms to a foreign nation, Harris displayed a brazen disrespect for our laws regulating and monitoring the sale of weapons, said U.S. Attorney Williams. Trafficking in firearms overseas is a serious federal offense, and one for which our Office will hold offenders like Harris accountable.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement, New York Field Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph A. LaBar and U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division Trial Attorney Michael E. Eaton.
Harris’s sentencing should send the message to criminals that a blatant disregard of federal firearms laws will be investigated jointly by ATF and our local, state, and federal partners, said Matthew Varisco, Special Agent in charge of ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division.
The FBI continues to work with our law enforcement partners in pursuit of criminals whose actions violate our laws and put the citizenry of our country – or any other – in harm’s way, said Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire. We have a global reach. It doesn’t matter if you are breaking laws and illegally trafficking guns within your state, within this country, or around the world. We will bring you to justice.
Bucks County Man Charged with Trafficking Firearms to St. Lucia
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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