Philadelphia man draws prison for role in southeast PA gun trafficking network

NORRISTOWN A Philadelphia man was sent to prison after he admitted to purchasing eight firearms for the ringleader of a multi-county gun trafficking network who illegally obtained and put nearly 100 guns on the streets. Malik Keyon Rowell-Jernigan, 26, of the 1900 block of East Pacific Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 5 to 10 years in a state correctional institution after he pleaded guilty to charges of corrupt organizations, making false written statements on federal firearms paperwork, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and conspiracy in connection with incidents that occurred between 2022 and 2023. Judge Steven T. O’Neill said gun violence is ravaging communities and that those who put guns in the hands of others who are prohibited from having them are helping to promulgate the violence. “We are in a society that lives in worship of guns. It is particularly troubling that the population gaining access to these guns is getting younger and younger and younger. They are killing members of our community,” said O’Neill, adding a state prison term was appropriate for Rowell-Jernigan. “Protection of the public has to start somewhere.” The five-year sentence was a mandatory term allowable under state law for one of the illegal gun transfers. The judge imposed concurrent five-year sentences for the other seven illegal gun purchases. Rowell-Jernigan did not address the judge before learning his fate and did not comment to a reporter as he was escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs to begin serving the sentence. Rowell-Jernigan was among eight people charged in 2023 with participating in the gun trafficking network led by Larry B. Williams of Philadelphia. Prosecutors said participants used straw purchase schemes to arm the organization. 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, detectives specifically alleged Rowell-Jernigan purchased eight firearms “in furtherance of this gun trafficking organization.” The weapons included Taurus 9mm handguns, Glock . 40-caliber handguns and Glock 9mm handguns, according to court documents. “Those eight firearms were then handed over to Larry Williams as part of this overarching organization,” said Assistant District Attorney William Harry Highland III, who sought a mandatory sentence for Rowell-Jernigan. “The danger of these straw purchase cases is that individuals who cannot own or possess firearms are now able to get guns in their hands. “It presents a serious problem on the streets. When people are buying guns for those who cannot have them the ramifications of what could happen are endless,” said Highland, adding some of the illegal guns linked to the organization were used in other crimes. Some of the firearms were recovered during investigations of other crimes including in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and during an October 2021 gunpoint robbery in Wolcott, Conn., according to court documents. Members of the network allegedly purchased 94 firearms and attempted to purchase an additional 23 firearms in Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Lehigh, Philadelphia, Columbia, Northampton and York counties. Previous testimony revealed about 52 of the firearms are still on the streets. Authorities said about half of the illegal gun purchases and attempted purchases were completed at gun shows statewide, including at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks in Upper Providence Township. Seven of the eight firearms that were purchased by Rowell-Jernigan have been recovered by authorities. Defense lawyer Francis John Genovese was pleased the judge sentenced Rowell-Jernigan to only one five-year mandatory sentence. “He came in early on and admitted to what he had done, took responsibility for it. He was just hoping for the best sentence possible which is what the judge ultimately gave him, the 5 to 10 year mandatory sentences all running concurrently, so he was satisfied with that outcome,” Genovese said on behalf of Rowell-Jernigan. “When he initially got involved in this at the request of Mr. Williams he didn’t realize the consequences that came along with the straw purchases. He did it to make a couple of bucks because he really wasn’t working at that point in time. He made a couple of bucks but obviously it wasn’t worth the ultimate penalty he just paid with a 5- to 10-year prison sentence,” Genovese added. Authorities said Williams was prohibited from buying, owning or possessing firearms because of previous felony convictions for drug crimes, so he recruited other people who lived in Philadelphia to buy firearms for him. The investigation found that oftentimes Williams accompanied the straw purchasers to gun stores and helped choose the weapons or he directed the purchases from afar using text or phone conversations. “Law enforcement identified multiple members of this gun trafficking organization with different roles and responsibilities,” detectives wrote in a criminal complaint. “We know through our training and experience individuals involved in this illegal activity operate in attempt to conceal the true identity of the ultimate possessor of the firearm.” For each purchase made on behalf of the organization the purchasers indicated on the record of sale paperwork that they purchased the firearms for themselves and not another individual, detectives said. “The purpose of this corrupt organization was to illegally obtain and distribute firearms to others,” detectives alleged. In April, Williams, 42, of Jasper Street in Philadelphia, was sentenced to 22½ to 45 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of corrupt organizations, making materially false written statements or illegal transfer of firearms, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and conspiracy. In June 2022, the Montgomery County Detective Bureau initiated an investigation into illegal activities associated with the gun trafficking organization. Members of the county’s Violent Crime Unit followed the multiple purchases of firearms by the defendants through the state’s 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, records of cash transfers, inspection of forms used in purchasing firearms and other methods of investigation. Collaboration between law enforcement agencies and increased data sharing through initiatives like Track and Trace aided in uncovering the scale of the widespread operation. The following law enforcement organizations participated in the investigation: the Office of Attorney General’s Gun Violence Task Force; Montgomery County Detective Bureau’s Violent Crime Unit; Bucks County District Attorney’s Drug Strike Force; U. S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; 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.
https://www.pottsmerc.com/2025/11/20/philadelphia-man-draws-prison-for-role-in-southeast-pa-gun-trafficking-network/