The Philadelphia man facing 179 felony gun charges is heading to a jury trial at the Justice Center in Doylestown next year.
Judge Frank W. Peranteau Sr ruled earlier this month there was enough evidence to sustain the 179 felony gun related counts Jawone Williams, 32 was charged with in October after an investigation conducted by Bucks County detectives.
Williams represented by McGarrigle Law Firm is facing a lengthy prison sentence if convicted at trial,.
According to the 37-page probable cause narrative filed by Bucks County Detective Jeff Jumper who serves on gun violence task force and Special Investigator from Eric Frye, from the state Attorney General’s office, Williams purchased twenty (20) firearms from various licensed dealers in Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Delaware and Lehigh Counties between July of 2019 and May of 2022. 13 of those were purchased in Bucks, with 10 purchased from Johnston’s Sporting Goods, 715 State Road, Croydon, two from MEGA Pawn, 334-336 W. Bridge Street, Morrisville, PA , and one from Classic Pistol, 1310 Industrial Boulevard, Southampton.
Investigators discovered in 2023 six of the 20 guns allegedly purchased by Williams were recovered by police in jurisdictions outside of Bucks County. In some instances the weapons were connected to shooting and drug investigations. Based upon the discovery of the recovered firearms made by police and other criminal indicators, an investigation into the suspected “straw purchase” of firearms committed by Williams was opened, the probable cause says.
Investigators from the state attorney general’s office contacted bucks investigators reporting a firearm was recovered belonging to Williams, by the Ashland Borough Police on January 31, of this year bringing the total of firearm recoveries to nine.
To date, none of the twenty firearms purchased by Williams have been reported stolen or transferred, according to court rerecords. He allegedly indicated, on the =applications/record of sale, for every gun purchased the firearm for himself and not another individual.
Williams will be formally arraigned on Dec 20 at the court of common pleas. He also, according to online court records, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing in February of next year.
To read the full probable cause affidavit filed against Williams in Oct please click here.
