Montco Gun-Buying Scheme Lands NJ Man With PA Prison Sentence

NORRISTOWN, PA — A Garden State man has been sent to prison in Pennsylvania in connection with a straw purchase, gun-buying scheme in Montgomery County.

Edward E. Ratliff, 51, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was handed a prison sentence in Montgomery County Court recently of 17-and-1/2 years to 35 years after a jury convicted him this summer on numerous felony counts.

Investigators said that a man named Diarmani K. Deveaux, of Collingdale, Delaware County, bought Ratliff eight guns at a West Norriton Township gun store last year, because Ratliff was not eligible by law to purchase or possess firearms.

Deveaux previously pleaded guilty in a related case and is currently awaiting sentencing. Court records show the judge in the case deferred sentencing pending the results of a court-ordered background investigation.

Ratlliff was convicted on various charges during a criminal trial in Norristown in late August.

Related: Montco Gun-Buying Scheme: NJ Man Convicted On 34 Counts, Records Show

Prosecutors said that Ratliff enlisted Deveraux to buy the firearms for him at Treeline Sports Inc. in West Norriton, and that Deveraux lied on federal gun forms at the time of purchase to say that he would be the rightful owner of the guns he was buying and no one else.

This summer, Ratliff was convicted during a jury trial on numerous counts including conspiracy, prohibited possession of a firearm, firearm sales to an ineligible transferee, and making a materially false written statement.

He had originally been charged with dozens more charges, but more than 50 criminal counts had been withdrawn at the time of trial.

A look at court records in the case shows that Ratliff was sentenced to prison on Nov. 14 by Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas P. Rogers.

More information on the details of the case can be found here in a report by the Mercury newspaper.

The story says that the guns that were bought were ultimately taken with Ratliff to his home in New Jersey.

Evidence in the case reportedly included gun store surveillance camera footage showing the two men together at the time of purchase.