A 25-year-old man will serve up to three decades in state prison for the illegal straw purchase of 21 guns at gun stores in Bucks County and Philadelphia, 13 of which remain missing.
Leonard Truesdale, of Philadelphia, was arrested last year following a lengthy investigation by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, the Philadelphia Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Detectives with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
He pleaded guilty on July 14 to 21 felony counts of making false statements on firearm purchase forms and appeared for sentencing on Wednesday, September 27, 2023.
“Mr. Truesdale armed communities,” Deputy District Attorney Thomas C. Gannon said prior to sentencing. “The armaments he purchased are still putting communities at risk today.”
Eight of the guns were recovered in Philadelphia, Delaware, and Bucks County, and some in the possession of convicted felons. “We won’t know, until the others are recovered, the extent of the damage he caused,” Gannon added.
With the chance to say who he sold the guns to, Truesdale refused to answer Common Pleas Judge Charissa J. Liller.
“You are supplying guns to the same people who are killing people in the community,” Liller told him, asking him again where the guns went. Truesdale would only respond, “I can’t answer that.”
Liller sentenced Truesdale to 15 to 30 years in a state correctional institution. She also ordered that, upon his release, he is not to possess any firearms or ammunition and hold a full-time job. She also ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation while incarcerated.
The investigation began with a traffic stop in Philadelphia on Feb. 15, 2021, where city police recovered a loaded 9-mm Smith & Wesson pistol. The gun was illegally possessed by a 19-year-old male and had never been reported stolen.
A records check found that the gun was purchased by Truesdale on Dec. 9, 2020, at Tanner Sports Center in Warwick Township. Further investigation revealed that Truesdale purchased 21 handguns between July 2020 and March 2021 from Tanner Sports Center, Bunker Gun Shop in Warminster, Bunker Gun Shop 2 in Chalfont, Auger Precision Firearms in Croydon, and Delia’s Gun Shop in Philadelphia.
None of the recovered guns were ever reported stolen.
Before he was sentenced, several people spoke on behalf of Truesdale, and they cited the death of his pastor and his father as having a big impact on his life. Months after their deaths, Truesdale would begin straw purchasing firearms and selling them.
“He dealt with his grief through supporting gun violence,” Gannon said. This case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Thomas C. Gannon, with assistance from former Deputy District Attorney David A. Keightly Jr.