Credit: Montgomery County District Attorney.
A Philadelphia resident has been sentenced to prison for illegally buying firearms on behalf of a gun trafficking ring operating across multiple counties, according to a report from Mainline Media News.
Asad Sayed, 28, of the 1300 block of South 6th Street, received a prison sentence of 7½ to 15 years in a Pennsylvania state facility. The sentencing took place in Montgomery County Court after Sayed admitted guilt to several offenses, including participating in a corrupt organization, laundering illegal proceeds, unlawfully transferring firearms, and providing false information to authorities. These offenses took place between January 2023 and April 2024.
Judge Wendy G. Rothstein handed down the sentence, which included consecutive prison terms related to the gun-related charges.
Prosecutors said Sayed was approached by the group's leaders—Scott Michael Grondin and Bella Skylar Kenna—to act as a straw purchaser for four firearms from shops in West Chester and Philadelphia. According to the case, Sayed, who was battling addiction, accepted drugs in return for his role in acquiring the guns for Grondin.
A straw purchase happens when an individual who can legally buy a firearm does so on behalf of someone who is prohibited from owning one, and then unlawfully gives or sells the weapon to that person.
According to testimony, the criminal enterprise led by Grondin and Kenna was linked to the trafficking or attempted trafficking of 17 firearms into illegal markets, with only seven of those weapons recovered by authorities. The organization was also involved in the distribution of various illegal drugs, including methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and marijuana.
Grondin, 43, and Kenna, 22, who was Grondin’s girlfriend, each previously was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple felony charges. They ran the corrupt organization from their home in the 300 block of North 9th Street in Philadelphia.
Read the full article here.
