NORRISTOWN >> Acknowledging the seriousness of so-called “straw purchases,” a judge accepted a plea agreement that sent an Amity Township man to state prison for illegally transferring two firearms to someone ineligible to possess them.
“The concept of putting a firearm directly into the hands of a convicted felon has serious punitive consequences. The allegations appear to be as serious as the Legislature articulated them to be for these straw purchases,” Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill addressed Anthony Joseph Gonder on Wednesday as he sentenced the man to four to eight years in state prison. “Obviously, the decision was life altering for you. This is a fairly long sentence.”
“You hit the nail on the head. It’s a large sentence. I was hoping the numbers would come down,” Gonder replied.
Gonder, 42, of the 400 block of Laurelwood Drive, pleaded guilty to two felony charges of selling, delivering or transferring a firearm to a person who is ineligible to possess a firearm in connection with incidents that occurred in April 2015 in Limerick. The plea agreement was hashed out between Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Geiser and defense lawyer Carol Sweeney.
With the charges, prosecutors alleged Gonder purchased two firearms in his name from a Skippack area gun store on April 2 but then illegally delivered them on April 6 to John Alan Sassaman, a convicted felon who under the law was not permitted to possess firearms.
“This is otherwise known as a straw purchase,” explained Geiser who sought the state prison sentence against Gonder. “The laws are in place to ensure that firearms are purchased appropriately. Straw purchases are taken extremely seriously in our county and the ramifications for buying a gun for anybody else, much less a felon, are serious.
“We need to send the message that a straw purchase is unacceptable, illegal activity,” Geiser added.
An investigation began about 7:30 a.m. on April 6 when Limerick police responded to the Wawa in the 400 block of West Ridge Pike for a report of a man, later identified as Sassaman, slumped over the steering wheel of his vehicle. Police were unable to awaken Sassaman and when they opened the car door to check on his well-being they detected an odor of marijuana and found a prescription bottle, labeled “Unlawful outside the state of Colorado,” that contained marijuana, according to an arrest affidavit.
Authorities also uncovered clear bags containing methamphetamine inside Sassaman’s vehicle, according to the criminal complaint filed by Limerick Police Officer Christopher Iochum.
When police searched the trunk of the vehicle they found a book bag that contained two loaded firearms. The handguns recovered from Sassaman were determined to have been purchased from a Skippack area gun store by Gonder, according to the criminal complaint.
During the investigation, it was determined that Gonder and Sassaman had previously attempted to purchase firearms at a Perkiomenville area gun store three times between February and April 2015 but were turned away by the owner, according to court papers.
Geiser said the two gun stores were “cooperative and helpful” during the investigation.
Sassaman, 31, of the first block of Village Drive, Lower Frederick, previously pleaded guilty to charges of person not to possess a firearm and possession with intent to deliver controlled substances in connection with the incident and was sentenced to two to seven years in state prison.
