{"id":40320,"date":"2025-11-21T04:39:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T04:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/40320\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T04:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T04:39:09","slug":"philadelphia-man-draws-prison-for-role-in-southeast-pa-gun-trafficking-network-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/40320\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia man draws prison for role in southeast Pa. gun trafficking network"},"content":{"rendered":"

NORRISTOWN \u2014 A Philadelphia man was sent to prison after he admitted to purchasing eight firearms for the ringleader of a multi-county gun trafficking network who illegally obtained and put nearly 100 guns on the streets.<\/p>\n

Malik Keyon Rowell-Jernigan, 26, of the 1900 block of East Pacific Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 5 to 10 years in a state correctional institution after he pleaded guilty to charges of corrupt organizations, making false written statements on federal firearms paperwork, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and conspiracy in connection with incidents that occurred between 2022 and 2023.<\/p>\n

Judge Steven T. O\u2019Neill said gun violence is ravaging communities and that those who put guns in the hands of others who are prohibited from having them are helping to promulgate the violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a society that lives in worship of guns. It is particularly troubling that the population gaining access to these guns is getting younger and younger and younger. They are killing members of our community,\u201d said O\u2019Neill, adding a state prison term was appropriate for Rowell-Jernigan. \u201cProtection of the public has to start somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The five-year sentence was a mandatory term allowable under state law for one of the illegal gun transfers. The judge imposed concurrent five-year sentences for the other seven illegal gun purchases.<\/p>\n

Rowell-Jernigan did not address the judge before learning his fate and did not comment to a reporter as he was escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs to begin serving the sentence.<\/p>\n

\"MalikMalik Keyon Rowell-Jernigan (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. \u2013 MediaNews Group)<\/p>\n

Rowell-Jernigan was among eight people charged in 2023 with participating in the gun trafficking network led by Larry B. Williams of Philadelphia. Prosecutors said participants used straw purchase schemes to arm the organization.<\/p>\n

A straw purchase occurs when someone who is legally allowed to purchase a firearm purchases one and then gives it illegally to someone who is not permitted to purchase that firearm.<\/p>\n

With the charges, detectives specifically alleged Rowell-Jernigan purchased eight firearms \u201cin furtherance of this gun trafficking organization.\u201d The weapons included Taurus 9mm handguns, Glock .40-caliber handguns and Glock 9mm handguns, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose eight firearms were then handed over to Larry Williams as part of this overarching organization,\u201d said Assistant District Attorney William Harry Highland III, who sought a mandatory sentence for Rowell-Jernigan. \u201cThe danger of these straw purchase cases is that individuals who cannot own or possess firearms are now able to get guns in their hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt presents a serious problem on the streets. When people are buying guns for those who cannot have them the ramifications of what could happen are endless,\u201d said Highland, adding some of the illegal guns linked to the organization were used in other crimes.<\/p>\n

\"MalikMalik Rowell-Jernigan is escorted by a deputy sheriff Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025 from a Montgomery County courtroom to begin serving 5-10 year prison term on gun trafficking charge. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. \u2013 MediaNews Group)<\/p>\n

Some of the firearms were recovered during investigations of other crimes including in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and during an October 2021 gunpoint robbery in Wolcott, Conn., according to court documents.<\/p>\n

Members of the network allegedly purchased 94 firearms and attempted to purchase an additional 23 firearms in Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Lehigh, Philadelphia, Columbia, Northampton and York counties. Previous testimony revealed about 52 of the firearms are still on the streets.<\/p>\n

Authorities said about half of the illegal gun purchases and attempted purchases were completed at gun shows statewide, including at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks in Upper Providence Township.<\/p>\n

Seven of the eight firearms that were purchased by Rowell-Jernigan have been recovered by authorities.<\/p>\n

Defense lawyer Francis John Genovese was pleased the judge sentenced Rowell-Jernigan to only one five-year mandatory sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came in early on and admitted to what he had done, took responsibility for it. He was just hoping for the best sentence possible which is what the judge ultimately gave him, the 5 to 10 year mandatory sentences all running concurrently, so he was satisfied with that outcome,\u201d Genovese said on behalf of Rowell-Jernigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he initially got involved in this at the request of Mr. Williams he didn\u2019t realize the consequences that came along with the straw purchases. He did it to make a couple of bucks because he really wasn\u2019t working at that point in time. He made a couple of bucks but obviously it wasn\u2019t worth the ultimate penalty he just paid with a 5- to 10-year prison sentence,\u201d Genovese added.<\/p>\n

\"GunGun trafficker Larry Williams is escorted by a deputy sheriff from a Montgomery County courtroom on April 17, 2025, to begin serving 22\u00bd to 45 year prison term. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. \u2013 MediaNews Group)<\/p>\n

Authorities said Williams was prohibited from buying, owning or possessing firearms because of previous felony convictions for drug crimes, so he recruited other people who lived in Philadelphia to buy firearms for him. The investigation found that oftentimes Williams accompanied the straw purchasers to gun stores and helped choose the weapons or he directed the purchases from afar using text or phone conversations.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaw enforcement identified multiple members of this gun trafficking organization with different roles and responsibilities,\u201d detectives wrote in a criminal complaint. \u201cWe know through our training and experience individuals involved in this illegal activity operate in attempt to conceal the true identity of the ultimate possessor of the firearm.\u201d<\/p>\n

For each purchase made on behalf of the organization the purchasers indicated on the record of sale paperwork that they purchased the firearms for themselves and not another individual, detectives said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of this corrupt organization was to illegally obtain and distribute firearms to others,\u201d detectives alleged.<\/p>\n

In April, Williams, 42, of Jasper Street in Philadelphia, was sentenced to 22\u00bd to 45 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of corrupt organizations, making materially false written statements or illegal transfer of firearms, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and conspiracy.<\/p>\n

\"MalikMalik Rowell-Jernigan is escorted by sheriff\u2019s deputies from a Montgomery County courtroom to begin prison term for illegally buying guns for gun trafficking organization. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. \u2013 MediaNews Group)<\/p>\n

In June 2022, the Montgomery County Detective Bureau initiated an investigation into illegal activities associated with the gun trafficking organization. Members of the county\u2019s Violent Crime Unit followed the multiple purchases of firearms by the defendants through the state\u2019s Electronic Record of Sale (EROS) system and through hard copies of ATF and Pennsylvania State Police forms at gun stores.<\/p>\n

Detectives used surveillance, interviews, information from law enforcement agencies, call detail records and cellphone downloads, social media analysis, records of cash transfers, inspection of forms used in purchasing firearms and other methods of investigation. Collaboration between law enforcement agencies and increased data sharing through initiatives like Track and Trace aided in uncovering the scale of the widespread operation.<\/p>\n

The following law enforcement organizations participated in the investigation: the Office of Attorney General\u2019s Gun Violence Task Force; Montgomery County Detective Bureau\u2019s Violent Crime Unit; Bucks County District Attorney\u2019s Drug Strike Force; U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Pennsylvania State Police; Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole; FBI Bucks Montgomery Safe Streets Task Force; U.S. Marshal\u2019s Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force; New York State Police and multiple police departments including Abington Township Police, Philadelphia Police, Middletown Township Police, Wolcott, Conn., Police, Darby Police, New York City Police and the Pittsburgh Police.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NORRISTOWN \u2014 A Philadelphia man was sent to prison after he admitted to purchasing eight firearms for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[46,182,139,28,69,71,70,1444],"class_list":{"0":"post-40320","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-courts","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","14":"tag-philadelphia-news","15":"tag-top-stories-lan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}