Gun trafficking ring uncovered after 3rd arrest in deadly wrong-house home invasion in Pennsylvania
A third man has been charged in connection with last month's fatal wrong-house home invasion in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and authorities claim all three suspects ran a gun trafficking ring that armed criminals.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele announced Friday the arrest of 26-year-old Jeremy Fuentes of Philadelphia. Fuentes was charged with second-degree murder and conspiracy in connection with Andrew Gaudio's Dec. 8 murder.
Steele said Fuentes and the two other men arrested in Gaudio's murder operated a gun trafficking organization uncovered during the investigation.
Kelvin Roberts and Charles Fulforth were arrested and charged last month with murder, burglary and related offenses.
"These guns and a lot you see laying before you were being manufactured by Fulforth and being distributed out on the streets and was fueling gun violence," Steele said.
Police said Roberts and Fulforth broke into Gaudio's home on Meredith Road in Wynnewood on Dec. 8, shooting Gaudio and his mother. Gaudio was killed while his mother, Bernadette Gaudio, was left paralyzed.
"These people got in and murdered the son and paralyzed the mother," Steele said Friday.
The Montgomery County district attorney said last month Gaudio's murder was the result of a wrong-house home invasion. Roberts and Fulforth intended to steal guns but had the wrong house, Steele said in December.
On Friday, Steele said Fuentes worked at The Junkluggers in Willow Grove with Roberts and Fulforth.
Steele said Fuentes was the source who tipped off Roberts and Fulforth about guns at a house in Bucks County with a similar address to Gaudio's in Wynnewood.
According to Steele, Fuentes conducted an estimate for junk removal at the Bucks County home on Dec. 6. Fuentes allegedly saw a large gun safe, firearm boxes, gun parts and ammunition at the house, but Steele said the items were not part of the estimate.
Steele claimed Fuentes then called Fulforth and tipped him off about the guns and said the homeowners were elderly.
Roberts and Fulforth then confused the Bucks County home with Gaudio's Wynnewood house, Steele said.
"Fuentes is the individual who goes, does the estimate on the home in Bucks County, relays that information to Fulforth and that's the impetus on why they go to this residence," Steele said.
Among the evidence shown at the press conference were machine gun conversion devices known as switches, which can turn any semi-automatic gun into a fully automatic firearm.
"This is a significant problem that we're facing," Steele said. "It's killing law enforcement and killing innocent people."
Steele said the streets are a little safer now that this gun trafficking organization has been dismantled. While six people have been arrested, two more are still being sought.
"We're looking for Marcus Lee Jackson and Corry Simpson. If anyone knows where they are, don't approach," Steele said. "Call police."