Norristown man arrested for gun trafficking

A Norristown man was charged on Wednesday, April 26 for gun trafficking.

Alfred L. Dukes Jr., 46, was charged with 18 counts of illegal sale or transfer of a firearm. The first count is a second-degree misdemeanor, and the subsequent counts are second-degree felonies.

A joint investigation by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau's Violent Crime Unit and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) began when four firearms were seized in Bronx, N.Y. in relation to a criminal investigation.

All four guns were registered to Dukes, who had never reported them missing or stolen.

Law enforcement identified a total of 19 firearms purchased by and registered to Dukes: six 22 caliber handguns, nine .380 caliber handguns, two 40 caliber handguns, one 25 caliber handgun and a shotgun.

All of the identified firearms were purchased from 2009 to 2016 from federally licensed firearms dealers located within Montgomery County.

Nine of these firearms were seized in separate criminal investigations. Six seizures occurred in Bronx, N.Y., one in Suffolk County, N.Y. and two in the Municipality of Norristown.

These firearms were not seized from Dukes, and the only commonality among the investigations was that all of the firearms were registered to Dukes.

The purchase of these firearms, the way they were recovered and his inability to produce the other nine firearms are all indicators of illegal trafficking of firearms and/or the straw purchasing of firearms.

Dukes purchased these guns in Montgomery County and got them in the hands of criminals from New York to Norristown who were not legally allowed to buy or possess firearms. His actions thereby facilitated the illegal activities of other criminals.

Dukes failed to make his $350,000 cash bail and was taken to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

A preliminary hearing for Dukes is scheduled for 9 a.m., May 10 before Judge Ester J. Casillo.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Laura Bradbury, Captain of the Firearms Unit.