Local man pleads guilty to gun charges
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A Uniontown man
who bought firearms for another man who couldn’t legally buy them
has pleaded guilty to violating federal firearms
laws.
Sermaine P.
Darby, 28, pleaded guilty to one count before U.S. District Judge
Joy Flowers Conti last week. While the charge allows for up to 10
years in prison, the terms of the plea were not immediately
released.
Authorities
alleged Darby was a “straw buyer,” meaning he bought the guns for
someone else. The man he bought the guns for was not identified,
but authorities said the man was precluded from getting a gun
because of previous felony drug convictions in Washington, D.C.,
and a pending case in Fayette County.
In all, Darby
bought three pistols from a store in Smithfield and a total of
eight pistols from a Uniontown store. All of the purchases were
made in 2007.
Darby was trying
to buy two more pistols from a different Uniontown store when
police stopped him on July 20, 2007.
Some of the guns
have been located in the greater Washington, D.C., area and one had
been used in a homicide, according to the U.S. Attorney’s
office.
Darby will be
sentenced June 20.
The Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Uniontown Police
Department and state police conducted the investigation that led to
the prosecution of Darby, with cooperation and assistance from the
stores where the guns were purchased.