A Kensington man led a gun ring that armed criminals with nearly 100 illegal guns, prosecutors say

A Kensington man ran a sprawling gun-trafficking network that illegally obtained 94 guns and sold them to criminals who otherwise could not obtain them, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Larry Williams, 40, recruited seven people to buy firearms at gun shows and gun stores, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.

Of the dozens of guns the group purchased, 29 have been recovered by law enforcement, from as far away as Pittsburgh, New York City, and Wolcott, a town in central Connecticut. The weapons were used in multiple violent crimes, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, including armed robberies and shootings in Philadelphia.

A pistol seized in Pittsburgh on Feb. 10 had been purchased in 2021, Steele said, indicating that the gun may have been used in illegal activity for more than a year.

“We are taking this very, very seriously, and getting those other 65 guns back is a priority for us,” Steele said. “I fear these guns will be used in other crimes.”

Steele’s office began investigating the ring in June, when a confidential informant in an unrelated case provided information about Williams’ operation, the affidavit said. Montgomery County detectives were assisted by their counterparts in Bucks County, as well as state and federal officials.

Williams and his alleged coconspirators face dozen of charges related to straw purchasing, including illegally transferring firearms and operating a corrupt organization.

It was unclear Wednesday if Williams had hired an attorney.

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Also arrested in the gun ring were: Robert Cooper III, 23; Ziair Stenson, 26, Malik Rowell-Jernigan, 24; Daynell Jones, 40; and Shadiid Smalley, 23, all of Philadelphia. Two other suspects, Kevin Logan, 24, and Zakayla Deshields, 22, also from Philadelphia, were still being sought by investigators.

Each member of the group purchased multiple guns on behalf of Williams, who was unable to buy them himself because of previous gun and drug convictions in Philadelphia, according to the affidavit.

The purchases began in October 2018, and continued until at least July 2021, authorities said. Members of the ring purchased multiple guns during each transaction, more than half of them at gun shows in the region, including in Oaks and Allentown, according to Steele.

Williams sold the guns almost as quickly as he received them, advertising them through text messages and exchanging payment for them through mobile apps, the affidavit said. One gun was sold less than an hour after he received it, according to Steele.

Despite successfully purchasing dozens of guns, Williams’ associates were also turned away from certain gun stores — state records indicate they attempted to buy 23 additional guns, but were prevented by store owners who deemed the transactions suspicious, the affidavit said.

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Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub, who spoke alongside Steele on Wednesday in announcing the charges, said the region is “awash in a sea of illegal guns that are far too easy to acquire.” He and Steele have made illegal gun investigations a top priority.

“If we have to do this one straw purchaser at a time, that’s what we’re going to to do,” Weintraub said. “That’s what we’ve been sworn to do.”