Cops: Suspect was gun straw-buyer

One of five men who participated in a recent home-invasion robbery in the presence of four children has a history of purchasing guns for convicted criminals, police said.

Sean Kelley, 28, was one of two men arrested in the robbery at the home of Harry Navas, 37, on Tremont Street near Roosevelt Boulevard on Nov. 28.

During the robbery, five masked men bound Navas to a chair with duct tape, beat him and robbed him of $2,000, all while his four children were in the house.

Kelley and Malik Hayes, 19, were arrested shortly after the incident.

The other three suspects remain at large, according to police.

Three handguns were found near Kelley and Hayes when they were captured.

During follow-up investigations, police found that Kelley bought eight handguns over the last two years, none of which were found by officers searching Kelley's home on Logan Street near Keyser in Germantown.

Police discovered that three of the guns Kelley purchased in his name had already been confiscated from people who had been arrested.

Authorities don't know where the other five guns are but they say Kelley bought them for five criminals who couldn't legally buy them for themselves.

Kelley was paid between $100 and $150 for each straw purchase, police said.

Already facing charges of robbery, aggravated assault and false imprisonment in the home invasion robbery, Kelley now faces additional charges of illegal transfer of firearms, unsworn falsifying, tampering with records and conspiracy in connection with the gun purchases. *