Straw purchaser nabbed in Bucks

A 24-year-old man is facing a slew of felony charges for the illegal straw purchase of 21 guns at gun stores, almost exclusively in Bucks County.

Leonard Truesdale was arraigned Wednesday, Nov. 9, on 21 counts each of making false statements on firearm purchase forms, criminal conspiracy to make false statements on firearm purchase forms and selling or transferring a firearm to an unlicensed person. All the offense are second-degree and third-degree felonies.

Truesdale, of Philadelphia, appeared before District Judge Brian M. Marriott who remanded him to Bucks County Correctional Facility under $100,000 bail.

The lengthy investigation was conducted by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Detectives with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

The investigation started with a traffic stop in Philadelphia on Feb. 15, 2021, where city police recovered a loaded 9-mm Smith & Wesson pistol. The gun was illegally possessed by a 19-year-old man and had never been reported stolen.

A records check found that the gun was purchased by Truesdale on Dec. 9, 2020, at Tanner Sports Center in Warwick Township. Further investigation revealed that Truesdale purchased 21 handguns between July 2020 and March 2021 from Tanner Sports Center, Bunker Gun Shop in Warminster, Bunker Gun Shop 2 in Chalfont, Auger Precision Firearms in Croydon, and Delia’s Gun Shop in Philadelphia.

Six of the guns purchased by Truesdale have since been recovered, four of them in Philadelphia and the other two in the possession of convicted felons in Bensalem and Delaware. None of the recovered guns were ever reported stolen.

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