Former Philadelphia Sheriff's deputy charged with selling guns used in fatal shooting of high school student
A former Philadelphia Sheriff's deputy has been arrested on allegations he sold two semi-automatic pistols to a confidential FBI informant, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. The guns were sold to the informant after they had been used in the fatal shooting of a high school student last month, according to court documents.
Samir Ahmad, 29, was charged with firearms trafficking and selling firearms to a person unlawfully in the U.S., the Eastern District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release.
The sale took place on Oct. 13, while Ahmad was on duty as a deputy sheriff, according to court documents. Prosecutors allege that Ahmad sold two semi-automatic pistols and ammunition to a confidential informant during a sting operation in which the the sale was recorded using audio and visual equipment.
During the exchange, the informant told Ahmad that he was in the U.S. illegally and could "get deported" if he was caught in possession of a gun, to which Ahmed responded: "You don't got to worry about none of that," the criminal complaint reads.
The two semi-automatic weapons Ahmed sold the informant were used in a Sept. 27 shooting outside Roxborough High School in Philadelphia, according to court documents, in which a 14-year-old boy was killed, and four more teens injured, while they leaving a football scrimmage.
According to prosecutors, Ahmad made $3,000 from the sale of the firearms.
Ahmad, who had been employed with the department as a deputy sheriff since February of 2018, was fired on Oct. 19, the same day he was arrested by federal agents, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Jacqueline Maguire, special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division, called Ahmad's actions "reprehensible."
"The idea of a sworn public servant so blatantly undermining public safety is reprehensible," Maguire said in a statement."Philadelphia is awash in illegal guns, which are being used to commit violent crimes, so every weapon we can take off the street and every trafficker we can lock up makes a difference."
If convicted as charged, Ahmad faces a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
