A Plymouth Meeting Man Has Admitted His Role In A Gun Trafficking Operation

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, PA — A 23-year-old Plymouth Meeting man has admitted in court that he was involved in a gun trafficking operation that prosecutors say was responsible for illegally obtaining and reselling 31 firearms in Montgomery, Philadelphia, Berks, Bucks and Lancaster Counties.

Quinn Whisted recently entered an open guilty plea to a whole host of felony counts relating to his involvement in a gun-running ring that was announced by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office back in February.

At the time, District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said that the traffickers made straw purchases of firearms to be resold to those who were not allowed to possess guns by law and that they also resold so-called "ghost guns," or those firearms made by assembly kits that do not contain serial numbers and therefore lack traceability.

Whisted was one of 14 individuals who had been charged in connection with the gun trafficking operation.

Prosecutors say that Whisted's involvement in the operation was the purchasing of 17 firearms.

"This group of people was acting together with the sole purpose of making money by putting firearms in the hands of people who cannot lawfully buy and possess guns, in effect arming criminals," Steele, the district attorney, stated back in February at the time of the arrests.

The criminal docket sheet in Whisted's case shows that he pleaded guilty to a total of 209 counts lodged against him, a mix of both felonies and misdemeanors.

According to a criminal complaint, Whisted had prior arrests in East Norriton Township for possessing drug paraphernalia and in Philadelphia for theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

But the arrests did not impact his ability to buy guns from a dealer.

"Due to his limited criminal history he was able to purchase firearms for this organization," reads the criminal complaint that had been jointly filed by Montgomery County Detective Jeffrey Koch, Montgomery Township Detective Todd Walter and Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Brian Kedra.

The criminal complaint details the investigation leading up to the arrests back in February.

According to the Mercury newspaper of Pottstown, detectives investigating the gun trafficking operation even uncovered evidence that Whisted made disparaging remarks about slain Plymouth Township police officer Brad Fox.

Fox was killed back in 2012 by a criminal who possessed a gun that was purchased by a straw seller.

The paper reported that Whisted had taken a selfie video of himself at Fox's memorial site in Plymouth Township in which he disparages Fox, who was the only Plymouth officer ever to die in the line of duty.

According to court records, Whisted's guilty plea came on Dec. 9 before Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Henry S. Hilles, III.

Sentencing has been scheduled for March 10, 2022.