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Kareem Reed, 23, was arrested Monday, Dec. 5, and held at the county lockup in lieu of a $99,000 bail bond, said District Attorney Kevin R. Steele in a statement.
Police began investigating Reed in April after a handgun linked to a shooting in Cheltenham Township was found in the possession of a 20-year-old, who was too young to legally purchase it, the DA said.
Detectives then found the firearm was purchased by Reed in June 2021. Reed had never reported the weapon missing or stolen, indicating he'd bought it on someone else's behalf — a maneuver known as a "straw purchase," authorities say.
A closer look at state police gun purchasing records showed Reed had bought at least four firearms between April and November 2021, officials wrote. Call and text records revealed conversations in which Reed tried to sell the weapons and instructed buyers to deface the serial numbers, which is also a crime, police added.
All four guns were recovered by investigators, authorities said.
“Buying and trafficking firearms to criminals is always a threat to public safety and is an egregious crime since the illegal firearms are often used in violent crimes, as this case shows,” DA Steele said.
“We have firearms laws for a reason — and one of the biggest is to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and keep our communities safe," he added.
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