Croydon Man Sentenced For Overseas Gun Trafficking: Feds

CROYDON, PA — A Croydon man was sentenced to federal prison for an international gun trafficking scheme on Tuesday.

Thomas Harris Jr., 29, was sentenced to three years and 10 months for his scheme to sell almost 40 guns to a buyer on the island of St. Lucia.

"One of Harris’s packages to St. Lucia was intercepted by federal agents at the warehouse of a local shipping company," the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said in a press release.

"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."

Harris was originally charged by Indictment in 2020. His charges included "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," according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to authorities, Harris had purchased approximately 38 firearms in the course of 12 transactions at two Bucks County gun shops between April of 2019 and February of 2020. During these transactions, he provided a false address as his place of residence on the required federal forms required for every transaction.

Harris did not have a license to deal in firearms, nor a license to export.

“By shipping high-powered firearms to a foreign nation, the defendant displayed a brazen disrespect for our laws regulating and monitoring the sale of weapons,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “Trafficking in firearms overseas is a serious federal offense, and one for which our Office will hold offenders like Harris accountable.”

According to authorities, some guns were packed in boxes marked as diapers, laundry detergent, and cat litter.

“Firearms trafficking is at the forefront of ATF’s mission,” said Matthew Varisco, Special Agent in charge of ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division. “Harris’ sentencing should send the message to criminals that a blatant disregard of federal firearms laws will be investigated jointly by ATF and our local, state, and federal partners.”

Harris, a permanent U.S. resident who is not a citizen, also had previous convictions for disorderly conduct and DUI in Bucks County, according to a sentencing memorandum from his attorney. Those incidents occurred between 2014 and 2016.

“The FBI continues to work with our law enforcement partners in pursuit of criminals whose actions violate our laws and put the citizenry of our country – or any other – in harm’s way,” said Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire. “We have a global reach. It doesn’t matter if you are breaking laws and illegally trafficking guns within your state, within this country, or around the world. We will bring you to justice.”

Harris will also serve three years of supervised release after his federal prison sentence.

“Illegally exporting firearms from the United States is a serious violation of our nation’s export control laws and often has dire consequences abroad,” said Jonathan Carson, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement, New York Field Office. “This case demonstrates the outstanding collaboration between the Office of Export Enforcement and our law enforcement partners to aggressively enforce export violations in the interest of national security in the U.S. and abroad.”