A Bristol Township man was arrested and charged by federal indictment Wednesday for alleged gun trafficking offenses.
Thomas Harris Jr., 27, of the township’s Croydon section, was charged with making false statements to a federal firearm licensee, dealing in firearms without a license, delivery of firearms to a common carrier without written notice, and smuggling goods from the United States.
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In an indictment, Harris is accused of purchasing approximately 38 firearms in 12 transactions at two Bucks County gun shops between April 20, 2019 and February 15. He allegedly provided a false address on the federal forms that he completed during each transaction.
The guns were part of a scheme to sell the firearms to a buyer on the island of St. Lucia, a Caribbean island nation. Harris did not have a license to deal in firearms or a license to export them as required by law, according First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams.
Harris also allegedly failed to let the shipping company know the shipment contained firearms, which is required by law.
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Federal agents intercepted packages Harris was allegedly sending to St. Lucia at a regional warehouse.
“Inside, concealed in household items such as packages of diapers, cat litter and laundry detergent, the agents found seven Glock semiautomatic pistols, one Ruger semiautomatic pistol, two AK-47 pattern pistols, two AK-47 pattern rifles, two AR-15 lower receivers, two AR-15 upper receivers, ten high capacity Glock ammunition magazines, seven additional assorted ammunition magazines, and 815 rounds of ammunition,” prosecutors said in a statement.
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“Harris allegedly used the alias ‘Lance Brown’ when he presented this package to the shipping company for shipment to St. Lucia, and he allegedly falsely told a shipping company representative that the package contained household items. After the defendant left this package with the shippers, he traveled to St. Lucia himself in March 2020. He remained there until returning to the United States on July 25, 2020, when he was arrested at an airport in New York,” prosecutors said.
“As alleged in the Indictment charging him with firearms trafficking offenses, Harris has a brazen disrespect for our laws meant to regulate and monitor the sale of weapons,” said Williams, the first assistant U.S. Attorney. “After sending his most recent shipment of guns overseas he also left the country for a few months, but all that did was postpone the inevitable. If you are charged in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with a federal offense, there is no place to hide, here or abroad. We will not rest until we find you and hold you accountable.”
“Preventing the illegal use and trafficking of firearms is a central focus of ATF’s strategy to combat violent crime and protect our communities,” said John Schmidt, acting special agent in charge of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Philadelphia field division. “Illegally purchased firearms often end up in the hands of violent offenders and affect communities near and far, in this instance Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. Ensuring firearms traffickers are aggressively investigated and swiftly brought to justice is a top priority for the Philadelphia Field Division — this collaborative effort between our local, state and federal partners is a prime example of such.”
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“If you want to be a firearms dealer and exporter, get the proper licenses and follow the law,” said Michael J. Driscoll, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia division. “Guns illegally exported overseas are quite likely to end up in the wrong hands and be used to commit further criminal acts. The FBI is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to combat weapons trafficking, in the interests of public safety here and abroad.”
Harris could face a maximum possible sentence of 80 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $3,750,000 fine, and a $1,500 special assessment, prosecutors said.
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The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement New York Field Office; the ATF; and the FBI.
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