Credit: Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office
A Bristol Township man is among five charged in an alleged multi-county gun trafficking ring that operated throughout the region.
On Thursday afternoon, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub, and Abington Township, Montgomery County police Chief Patrick Molloy announced law enforcement had brought down the ring accused of purchasing firearms in Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties and then illegally reselling them.
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Clayton Robinson, 20, of Glenside, Montgomery County, allegedly led the ring and received help from his bothers, Julian Robinson, 31, and Kenneth Robinson, 18, both also of Glenside, according to authorities.
In addition to the three brothers, three men who allegedly purchased firearms in connection with the ring were charged. They were identified by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office as Maurice Baker IV, 23, of Bristol Township, who allegedly purchased 12 firearms; Brett Portner, 22, of Jenkintown, Montgomery County, who allegedly purchased five firearms; and Joseph Lynch III, 25, of Carrollton, Georgia, who allegedly purchased 17 firearms for the organization, authorities said.
The probe kicked off when Clayton Robinson was was found to be in possession of an illegal firearm, authorities said.
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The discovery led to Bucks County Detectives, Montgomery County Detectives, and Abington Township police detectives exploring Clayton Robinson’s actions prior and contacts as part of the expanding probe.
The investigation led authorities to the gun purchasers Baker, Portner, and Lynch. Portner and Baker had talked with Clayton Robinson before, after, and sometimes during the illegal gun purchases, the statement from authorities said.
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Below is how the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office explained the case:
“From there, law enforcement began following the multiple purchases of firearms by the three defendants through the Electronic Record of Sale (EROS) system and through hard copies of ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] 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, inspection of forms used in purchasing firearms and other methods of investigation. The investigation found that Lynch purchased 17 firearms for the gun trafficking organization from Nov. 17, 2020 to March 15, 2021; Portner purchased five guns from Jan. 11, 2021 to Feb. 3, 2022; and Baker purchased 12 firearms from May 12, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2021.”
“These firearms purchases were all ‘straw purchases,’ which is when a person with a clean background purchases firearms specifically on behalf of another person to conceal the true ownership of the firearm. Persons who are unable to legally purchase a firearm would include convicted felons, domestic violence misdemeanants, juveniles and mentally ill individuals.”
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“The investigation also found that once the purchased firearm was in Clayton Robinson’s possession, he used a power tool to illegally remove each firearm’s serial number and text conversations showed that buyers knew this. Other communications between Clayton Robinson and gun purchasers also showed that he was selling ‘switches,’ which is slang for kits that convert semiautomatic handguns to fully automatic status, making the firearms even more dangerous.”
Investigators alleged there were 34 straw purchases found, authorities said.
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As of Thursday, only six guns have been recovered and several were located in Lower Bucks County, according to investigators.
Authorities outlined the details on where the six firearms were recovered:
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• Taurus .38 caliber firearm (purchased by Lynch January 15, 2021) and a Glock handgun purchased by Luke DeCristofano November 23, 2020 were both recovered April 13 by Abington Township police during Clayton Robinson’s arrest;
• Ruger 9mm firearm (purchased January 21, 2021 by Lynch) recovered April 16, 2021 by Middletown Township police during a traffic stop;
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• Glock 9mm firearm (purchased March 6, 2021 by Lynch) recovered by Yardley Borough police during a traffic stop on March 21, 2021;
• Taurus 9mm firearm (purchased by Baker on July 20, 2021) recovered by Bensalem Township police during a traffic stop on September 13, 2021;
• Canik 9mm semi-automatic firearm (purchased by Portner on February 3) recovered by Abington Township police from juvenile during a traffic stop on March 23.
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The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office is leading the prosecution for the men. The men were charged with various offenses, but all were charged with corrupt organizations and conspiracy.
Kenneth Robinson was preliminarily arraigned and bail was set at $50,000 unsecured. Clayton Robinson, Maurice Baker, and Julian Robinson were preliminarily arraigned and bail was set at $99,000 for Clayton Robinson; Maurice Baker at $99,000; and Julian Robinson at $99,077.
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Lynch has not been arrested and investigators are seeking his whereabouts. They are also seeking details on firearms bought or sold by the ring. Tips can be phoned into the Montgomery County Detective Bureau at 610-278-DOIT (3648).
Steel, the Montgomery County district attorney, said gun trafficking poses a “significant threat to public safety and should concern every law-abiding citizen.”
“These defendants were acting together with the sole purpose of making money by putting firearms in the hands of people who cannot lawfully buy and possess guns, in effect arming criminals and in particular arming criminals with firearms capable of firing many, many bullets in a very short amount to time,” he said.
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“Fighting illegal gun trafficking is our top priority in Bucks. We are gaining great ground in this area with the help of great partners like the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, and many other local, county, state and Federal law enforcement partners. When we work together, all of us are safer. That’s how we win,” Weintraub said.
In addition to the agencies previously listed, the FBI, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General’s Office, and Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) task force assisted in the investigation.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
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