Credit: Bucks County Department of Corrections
A Bristol Township woman and a Trenton man were sentenced earlier this month for an attempted straw purchase.
Margaret Litton, 28, and Dorian Fleming, 27, both plead guilty in for attempting to buy a gun for individuals who can not legally purchase guns. Authorities said Litton tried to illegally purchase the weapon for Flemming, who claimed he needed her to buy a gun and give it to him because he did not have the “right identification” to buy it, according to court paperwork.
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Litton was sentenced to five years probation by Judge Jeffrey Finley. Fleming will serve the next three to seven years in state prison, according to court records.
Litton, who was arrested in early April, tried three times in one day in January 2013 to complete a straw purchase of a gun.
A straw purchase occurs when the actual buyer of a firearm uses another person, who has a clean record, to execute the paperwork necessary to purchase a firearm from a federally licensed firearms dealer, according to SmartGunLaws.com.
Flemming and two other men picked up Litton and gave her approximately $600 to buy a gun. Flemming asked her to buy the gun and referred to it as a “toy,” according to court papers.
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The attempted purchases took place at Mike’s Gun Shop on Levittown Parkway in Tullytown and Johnson’s Gun Shop on State Road in the Croydon section of Bristol Township. On two of the tree tries, an instant background check was called in by the clerk, who discovered Litton’s application was marked “research.” The status means the applicant’s criminal background needs further inquiry by authorities.
County detectives handled the case.
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