SEATTLE — Two King County men were charged Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle for buying more than 100 firearms as part of a “straw purchasing” scheme.
A “straw purchaser” is someone who purchases firearms on behalf of other people — a federal crime. In this case, nearly a quarter of the guns bought were linked to crimes, according to U.S. attorneys.
Dion Jamar Cooper, 31, of Kent, is charged with straw purchasing of firearms and trafficking in firearms. De’ondre Lamontia Phillips, 32, of Federal Way, is also charged with those offenses, as well as other drug and gun crimes.
“Schemes like this put our community at significant risk,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown in a news release. “We will use all tools — including new criminal statutes passed by congress — to stop such conduct.”
According to the criminal complaint, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found Cooper bought guns that he gave to Phillips, who is prohibited from purchasing and possessing firearms due to past criminal convictions.
Cooper, despite having been arrested for multiple offenses, had no felony convictions and could legally possess firearms.
The investigation began in January, when a gun found in connection with an armed robbery in Rainier Valley was traced back to Cooper, its original buyer, according to the complaint. Cooper had bought the firearm 50 days earlier from a pawnshop in Renton, Ben’s Loan, prosecutors allege.
Cooper had purchased at least 107 firearms around the Greater Seattle area since June 2021, the complaint said. Twenty-one of those firearms have been traced to crimes, and all but two of them were possessed by someone who was prohibited from having guns, prosecutors allege.
The amount of time between the firearm’s sale and its recovery by law enforcement after a crime ranged from two to 268 days, according to the complaint. Less than three years is a “potential indicator” of firearms trafficking, according to the ATF. Cooper bought firearms of the same make and model during the same transaction multiple times, indicating straw purchasing, according to prosecutors.
In interviews with investigators, the shop employees who sold the firearms said they saw Cooper getting a ride from someone else and they believed he was likely selling the guns to other people, the complaint said. According to prosecutors, Cooper videotaped some of the transactions, or video called other people as he looked at the firearms.
Investigators tracked the car in April and found it went between Cooper’s apartment, firearm sellers and a storage unit. A search warrant for Cooper’s apartment revealed he had no firearms in it.
Three firearms were found in Phillips’ car, and 15 were later found in his apartment, the complaint said. Over $22,000 in cash and hundreds of grams of drugs, some suspected to contain fentanyl, were also found, according to the complaint.
More firearms and hundreds of ammunition rounds were found in his storage unit in Federal Way, prosecutors allege.
According to the complaint, Cooper admitted to being a straw purchaser while being interviewed at the Kent City Jail.
Straw purchasing of firearms and trafficking in firearms are both punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
