Man Who Funneled Firearms Into Bucks Co. Gets Prison Time

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — A Philadelphia man who ran an illegal operation that funneled firearms into the Philadelphia suburbs faces up to two years in prison, authorities said.

Raheem Evans, 33, of Philadelphia, was sentenced Friday to 12 to 24 years in state prison for the straw purchase operation, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.

On Dec. 8, a jury found Evans guilty of 22 counts, including multiple counts of conspiracy and persons not to possess firearms.

The investigation, led by the Pennsylvania State Police and the ATF Firearms Trafficking Task Force, began in October 2020 after the Philadelphia Police Department recovered a 9mm pistol during a vehicle search, authorities said.

Authorities traced the gun to a woman who had purchased it just 28 days prior.

Records revealed that between August and October 2020, the woman purchased 13 firearms from The Bunker Gun Shop in Warminster. The investigation found she purchased 10 of the 13 firearms for Evans and three for another man.

The investigation found that the two of them were in an intimate relationship after meeting on Facebook.

Evans accompanied her to the gun store for several of the transactions. Evans was legally prohibited from possessing firearms due to a prior felony robbery conviction in 2010. The “straw purchase” scheme allowed him to circumvent background checks to obtain a variety of handguns, including Glocks, Rugers, and Smith & Wessons, authorities said.

Following the verdict, Evans' bail was revoked, and he was sent to the Bucks County Correctional Facility to await today’s sentencing.

Authorities said that five of the 10 guns illegally trafficked by Evans have been recovered, with several linked to subsequent criminal investigations involving drug dealing and shootings.