Alleged Straw Purchaser in Officer Fox Shooting Pleads Not Guilty

The Philadelphia man charged with making the straw purchase of a gun for a Lower Merion man, who then used the 9-millimeter Beretta to kill Plymouth Township Police Officer Bradley Fox in September of 2012, has plead not guilty to the charges against him, according to the Times Herald.

Authorities say that Michael Joseph Henry, 30, purchased nine guns for Andrew Charles Thomas, who shot and killed Fox last year before killing himself, according to a previous Patch article.

Henry, currently in jail in lieu of $1 million bail, faces up to 63 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

In an interview the day after Fox’s death, Henry allegedly said that Thomas paid Henry $500 in addition to the purchase price for each weapon that was sold to him over a four-month period in 2012.

Thomas, on probation from a 2005 Upper Merion forgery arrest, was not permitted to purchase firearms.

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According to authorities, Henry said that he discussed the possibility of being stopped by police with Thomas, who allegedly responded that he “wouldn’t go alive” and “would shoot a cop” to avoid going back to jail.

Walking into his arraignment in October of last year, Henry reportedly said “sorry” to the Fox family.

Henry will head to court later this month for a preliminary hearing.

In January, which restores a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison for individuals convicted a second time for “straw purchasing” guns.