April 12, 2017
A Chester woman faces multiple charges for allegedly straw-purchasing nine guns and selling them on the street, where several of the firearms were later used in felony crimes, the Delaware County District Attorney's office announced Wednesday.
Investigators said Vicki Towns-Perez, 35, purchased the hand guns under her own name between February 2012 and May 2013 as part of an arrangement made with her now-deceased nephew, Karyn "Spike" Ingram.
Towns-Perez allegedly told authorities that she purchased the weapons, including multiple .9mm Kel-Tec hand guns, because she believed Ingram had prior convictions preventing him from making the purchases himself. Ingram would allegedly describe the exact make and model he wanted for each purchase.
Prosecutors said Towns-Perez used cash to pay for the guns, which she would later give to Ingram in exchange for a profit of $150-200 per purchase. The pair conducted their business on the 2600 block of Boyle Street in the Highland Gardnes neighborhood of Chester, investigators said.
Of the nine guns Towns-Perez purchased, authorities said five have been recovered. All of them were used in felony crimes, as illustrated in the chart below.
Flow chart of firearms allegedly straw-purchased by Towns-Perez.
Towns-Perez is charged with firearm ownership and providing false information, firearm ownership and duty of another person, tampering with public records and making false reports to law enforcement.
If convicted on at least two charges, Towns-Perez faced a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison under the Brad Fox Law of 2012.
