A Woman Was Convicted Of Marking Straw Firearms Purchases From A Horsham Gun Shop

HORSHAM, PA — A Philadelphia woman was convicted in federal court Tuesday of making straw firearms purchases from a Horsham gun dealer for her romantic partner, who was barred by law from buying guns.

Brihany Baker, 25, was found guilty of illegally purchasing three semi-automatic firearms for her boyfriend, Donte Maxwell, in June 2020.

Baker's conviction was announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which had prosecuted the woman.

According to federal prosecutors, Baker was charged by indictment in November 2020 with criminal conspiracy to knowingly make false statement to a federal firearms licensee, or FFL, which stemmed from her lying on a federal 4473 form, which is the form individuals must fill out in order to purchase a firearm from a federally licensed gun dealer.

Prosecutors said that investigators were conducting surveillance of the Horsham gun shop in June 2020 when they observed Baker and Maxwell enter the store and begin gun shopping. Investigators said they "proactively delayed" any gun sales to Baker while obtaining video from inside the store, which showed Maxwell placing a $200 deposit down on three semi-automatic firearms, handle the firearms, and take pictures of the guns, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Baker then returned to the store the following month and purchased the guns, all the while stating on the 4473 form that she was buying them for herself and not another individual.

Baker subsequently confessed to police that she had bought the guns for her boyfriend, who was prohibiting from buying firearms because of a felony charge against him, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

State court records show that Maxell had been arrested in Philadelphia in May 2020 and charged with carrying a firearm without a license. This, prosecutors said, made him ineligible to possess a gun. Under Pennsylvania law, carrying a firearm without a license is a third-degree felony.

Although Maxell hasn't yet been convicted in that case, according to state court records, Pennsylvania law is written in such a way that if someone is facing a felony charge punishable by more than one year in prison, that person is prohibited from buying a firearm, according to Jennifer Crandall, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Crandall said this is distinctively different from possessing a firearm. Patch could not immediately ascertain whether such an individual would also be prohibited from possessing firearms in addition to purchasing them.

The conviction announcement for Baker did not identify the Horsham gun shop involved in the straw purchase, but court papers show that it was the Clayton's Range gun shop located on the 600 block of Easton Road.

Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said that the case was pursued as part of her office's "All Hands On Deck" initiative, which is aimed at preventing violent crime, and includes targeting straw firearms purchasers for prosecution.

"By charging crimes like straw purchasing of firearms, where firearms are purchased in order to turn them over to people who are prohibited from legally buying or possessing them, we can cut off the supply of illegal weapons at the source," Williams said in a statement. "Now, this defendant will face the consequences of her actions."

Matthew Varisco, special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, added that the agency is committed to keeping guns out of the hands of those prohibited from possessing them.

"Straw purchasing is a serious offense in which ATF along with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney's Office, will continue to investigate and prosecute those responsible," Varisco said in a statement. "This conviction ensures this defendant can no longer purchase firearms for others."