A Montgomery County Couple Is Heading To Prison For Gun Trafficking; Accomplice Sought

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — A local couple has been sentenced to prison time for their role in a gun trafficking operation, while a third man, whom prosecutors called the mastermind behind the conspiracy, is still being sought by authorities after skipping bail, according to court records and media reports.

Philip Jensen and Monica Kumpf, of the 1600 block of Skippack Pike in Blue Bell, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges relating to what Montgomery County authorities say was a gun trafficking operation in which the couple illegally bought firearms with the intent to sell them to those individuals who were not allowed by law to possess firearms.

Jensen pleaded guilty to various corrupt organizations and conspiracy charges, along with gun charges, counts relating to making false statements, and other felony counts, court records show.

Kumpf, his girlfriend, pleaded guilty to similar charges.

Jensen will be heading to state prison for a period of 4-and-one-half-to-10 years, while Kumpf was sentenced to 29-to-69-months in the Montgomery County Prison, according to a report in the Mercury newspaper of Pottstown.

The sentences were imposed on Nov. 30 by Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge William R. Carpenter.

Meanwhile, Gaime Hailemichael, of North Wales, who was the alleged mastermind behind the operation, remains on the loose, the Mercury reported.

Hailemichael, 28, who was previously released from custody after posting bail, is still awaiting trial on various charges in connection with the gun trafficking.

The Mercury reported that he has since failed to show up to various court proceedings.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office had announced charges against the three back in June 2019.

According to prosecutors, the trio, who also allegedly trafficked cocaine and methamphetamine, had purchased 11 firearms and attempted to purchase another six within an 11-day time period starting on April 23, 2019 and ending on May 3 of that year.

Prosecutors said that Kumpf was the one who actually purchased the guns, since she was the only one in the organization who was legally able to do so, while her codefendants coached her on how to "act and what to say while purchasing firearms from federally licensed firearms dealers," the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office stated in a June 2019 news release.

The D.A.'s Office said that when Kumpf gave the guns to her codefendants, she was "compensated" with methamphetamine, which she sold, and she was also compensated with temporary lodging.

Hailemichael and Jensen were also both involved in the trafficking of cocaine, prosecutors stated.

Police officers found Hailemichael to be in possession of a half kilo of cocaine when he was arrested at his North Wales residence, the D.A.'s Office said, with the estimated street value of the drugs to be between $75,000 and $100,000.

"This type of organization's sole purpose is to make money by putting firearms in the hands of people who cannot lawfully by and possess guns on their own," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said at the time of the arrests.

Steele said that authorities had only recovered two firearms at the time of the arrests that came out of the trafficking operation, and that eight guns remained on the loose with FBI agents and other law enforcement working to locate them.

At the time, Steele pointed out that gun trafficking and illegal straw purchases of firearms could lead to hefty prison sentences for defendants, since penalties were increased in Pennsylvania under the Brad Fox Law, which was a law passed following the on-duty death of Plymouth Township Police Officer Brad Fox back in 2012.

Fox was fatally shot by a suspect who was not legally able to possess a gun but had obtained one from another individual who was legally allowed to buy a gun from a federal gun dealer.

According to the report in the Mercury, Kumpf admitted during her guilty plea that she had bought the firearms during straw purchases from gun dealers in Hatfield, Horsham, Upper Merion and West Norriton.