Beaver Falls man arrested by DOJ for lying about intent of 2020 gun purchase
MONACA — After being found guilty of lying on a federal form during a gun purchase, a Beaver Falls man will now spend over three years in prison.
According to the Department of Justice, Calvin Brady Jr., 25, will spend 37 months in prison and another 3 years under supervision after his release.
According to the charges, Brady originally bought four 9mm Taurus pistols from the Rural King store at the Beaver Valley Mall on Dec. 12, 2020. While at the store, he was accompanied by two men that were later identified to be from Bridgeport, Conn.
Surveillance video from the day shows Brady and two men looking at the guns, with one of the men pointing to the Taurus guns and appearing to instruct Brady to buy the pistols with extended magazines. Brady then purchased four of the handguns, filling out on the form that the handguns were intended solely for his use.
This common practice, known as "straw purchasing," is a common way for those unable to purchase firearms due to legal restrictions to obtain firearms commonly used in crimes. Using this loophole in the gun buying system is a federal crime, but is a common way for criminals to receive guns. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 40 percent of criminals using firearms in crimes have obtained guns from friends or family.
On Dec. 13, the day after the guns were purchased, the two men with Brady were arrested in New Jersey after a high-speed police chase. The chase began after a routine stop for a traffic violation, but the two fled after hearing the sirens and began to point the handguns at the officers from inside the speeding car, forcing the police to take evasive measures and crash into barriers.
Throughout the chase, they threw three of the Taurus pistols from their car windows before they were eventually stopped and arrested. When police recovered the firearms, they were traced back to Brady's purchase at the Rural King store and he was charged for the straw purchase.
When police arrested Brady, they found the fourth Taurus pistol inside his vehicle. After a year-long investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Brady was found guilty of the deceit on the form.
Garret Roberts is the local Public Priority reporter for The Beaver County Times. He can be contacted at groberts1@gannett.com and can be followed on Twitter at @ReportedRoberts.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Beaver County man charged for illegally purchasing guns during 2020
