New Brunswick Man Used Another Man To Buy Guns For Him In PA

NORRISTOWN, PA — A man from New Brunswick was sentenced to up to 35 years in state prison in Pennsylvania for his role in what's known as a "straw purchase" gun-buying scheme.

Previously this summer, a jury in Montgomery County, PA convicted Edward E. Ratliff, 51, of New Brunswick, of numerous felony gun charges.

Prosecutors say Ratliff used another man to purchase eight guns for him at a Pennsylvania gun store last year, because Ratliff was not eligible by law to purchase or possess firearms. Ratliff brought the guns back to his New Jersey home, according to this media report.

Evidence in the case reportedly included gun store surveillance camera footage showing the two men together at the time of purchase.

That man, Diarmani Deveaux, of Collingdale, PA, previously pleaded guilty in a related case.

Prosecutors said Ratliff enlisted Deveraux to buy the firearms for him at Treeline Sports Inc. in West Norriton, and that Deveraux lied on federal gun forms at the time of purchase to say that he would be the rightful owner of the guns he was buying and no one else.

Ratliff was convicted of numerous counts including conspiracy, prohibited possession of a firearm, firearm sales to an ineligible transferee, and making a materially false written statement.