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NORRISTOWN — An Upper Dublin Township man accused of purchasing 15 guns using straw purchase schemes and illegally selling them to others put “the mechanism of death” on the streets, according to authorities who said some of the guns were linked to violent crimes including homicides in Philadelphia.
Tamir Jonathan Hartsock, 23, of the 300 block of Logan Avenue, was arraigned on Wednesday before District Court Judge Jay S. Friedenberg on charges of corrupt organizations, unlawful sale or transfer of firearms, unsworn falsification and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with alleged incidents that occurred between September 2020 and December 2022.
Hartsock’s bail was set at $500,000 cash and he remains in the county jail while awaiting a preliminary hearing on the charges.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, First Assistant District Attorney Edward F. McCann Jr. and Upper Dublin Police Chief Francis Wheatley announced Hartsock’s arrest during a news conference on Wednesday.
“When people are putting these guns onto the streets they are putting the mechanism of death, they are putting into the hands of violent criminals, guns that are being used in violent crimes, and they are going to be responsible for that,” Steele said.
“Gun traffickers like Hartsock are enabling violence and murder and that’s plain and simple. Hartsock and gun traffickers like him are a threat to public safety,” Steele added. “Gun traffickers simply don’t care about who they sell guns to, what damage they do to the safety of their own communities and other communities.”
Hartsock was taken into custody on May 2 at the convenience store at which he worked on Limekiln Pike in Cheltenham Township, according to authorities.
The investigation began in April 2023 when the county detective bureau’s Violent Crime Unit and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives received information regarding numerous firearms purchases by Hartsock that were suspected of being straw purchases.
A straw purchase occurs when a person with a clean background purchases firearms on behalf of another person to conceal the true ownership of the firearm. Those who are unable to legally purchase firearms include convicted felons, domestic violence offenders, juveniles and mentally ill individuals.
Detectives determined Hartsock purchased 15 firearms, including Glock .40-caliber and Ruger .380-caliber handguns, from three federally-licensed firearms dealers in Horsham, Willow Grove and Abington between September 2020 and December 2022, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective James B. Kemm.
Hartsock did not have a criminal record and turned 21 years old on Aug. 12, 2020, making him legally able to purchase firearms.
Steele alleged Hartsock’s straw purchasing began in September 2020 immediately after he turned 21 and he continued buying guns through December 2022.
“During that time, he bought guns at a fast clip, like other gun traffickers, buying and selling 15 firearms during that two-year span. He then sold these firearms to what we now know are some very violent and dangerous people,” Steele said.
At one point, Hartsock allegedly purchased seven handguns in a four-month period.
“The purpose of this corrupt organization was to illegally obtain and distribute numerous firearms to others,” Kemm alleged in the arrest affidavit. “This gun trafficking organization armed their members and provided the firearms to others, some of which were precluded from legally obtaining or possessing a firearm.”
Of the 15 firearms purchased by Hartsock, law enforcement has recovered only four of the weapons.
“That means there are 11 firearms still in the wind. We don’t know where they are. We don’t know what kind of violence or crimes they’ve been used in and we don’t know what crimes they will be used in. That’s of great concern to all of us,” Steele said. “These other 11 guns that are out there, mark my words, they’re going to be involved in other crimes.”
The four guns that were recovered were subsequently linked to various crimes in Philadelphia, including several shootings and a triple homicide, according to investigators.
According to court documents, a Glock Model G27 .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun, the tenth firearm purchased by Hartsock in February 2021, was recovered by Philadelphia police on April 28, 2023, at the scene of a triple homicide on Palmetto Street. A bullet retrieved from one of the homicide victims was entered into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), which analyzes fired cartridge casings, and confirmed that the bullet came from the Glock that had been purchased by Hartsock, according to the criminal complaint. The NIBIN system was recently acquired by Montgomery County.
A NIBIN review also linked the same gun to a shooting three months earlier, on Jan. 23, 2023, on West Indian Lane in Philadelphia, authorities alleged.
The first firearm purchased by Hartsock on Sept. 9, 2020, a Glock Model 22 .40-caliber handgun, was recovered by Philadelphia police on Sept. 6, 2022, after police heard about 50 gunshots fired in the Carlisle Street area. Police stopped a fleeing vehicle and apprehended three occupants, one of whom allegedly was in possession of the Glock. Fired cartridge casings from that gun were analyzed by the NIBIN system, which generated leads connecting the gun to four violent crimes in Philadelphia, including two shootings and two homicides, authorities alleged.
Two other guns purchased by Hartsock also were recovered — one on June 26, 2021, on a driver during a DUI checkpoint in Philadelphia and one on Oct. 7, 2022, during a traffic stop by Marple Township police in Delaware County during which both the driver and passenger were charged with firearms offenses, according to authorities.
“This defendant and his trafficking of firearms to violent criminals, including murderers, shows just how dangerous straw purchases are and what a danger they are to public safety,” Steele said.
“These firearms were sold by Hartsock to some very violent criminals, including what we know now as murderers. These criminals most likely sold the firearms to one or more violent criminals and that’s the dangerousness of these straw purchasers. We can’t tell you how many times these guns have transferred,” Steele added.
Steele said a majority of Hartsock’s gun purchases were conducted online and the guns were shipped to a federally licensed firearms dealer in the county where Hartsock had to complete the required forms and background check paperwork in order to complete the transactions.
Steele said the arrest is a warning to others who might think about getting involved in straw purchase schemes and gun trafficking crimes. Multiple straw purchases can carry consecutive mandatory prison sentences.
“Anybody who is out there and thinks about buying a gun for somebody else and puts it out on the street, the message is it’s not worth it,” said Steele, referring to the potential stiff penalties upon conviction.
“We take these crimes very, very seriously. We in Montgomery County, along with our local, state and federal partners, are committed to stopping illegal gun trafficking that begets murders, shootings, carjackings, armed robberies and all kinds of violent crime,” Steele said. “We’re committed to using every tool at our disposal, including our NIBIN technology to disrupt and take down these gun traffickers.”
The ATF, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, the Upper Dublin Township Police Department, the Marple Township Police Department and the Philadelphia Police Department assisted Montgomery County detectives during the investigation.
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