'Silent Machine Guns' Made, Sold By Montco Firearms Traffickers: DA

NORRISTOWN, PA — A Montgomery County-based gun trafficking gang that was selling illegally made, 3D-printed ghost guns with automatic firing capability has been busted, authorities announced Friday.

Three of the men involved in the organization have been charged in a recent home invasion murder in Lower Merion.

A total of eight people were arrested.

"So now we have ‘silent machine guns’ in our communities, which provides an inordinate risk to community members and law enforcement officials across Montgomery County and the Commonwealth," district attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement. "The danger of this type of gun trafficking organization is huge and simply unmeasurable.”

Related: Third Person Charged In Deadly Main Line Home Invasion

The leaders Charles Fulforth, 41, of Jenkintown, Kelvin Roberts, 42, of Philadelphia, and Jeremy Fuentes, 26, of Philadelphia, were arrested both for the firearms charges and for the Dec. 8 killing in Lower Merion. Five other members of the organization, all from Philly, were also booked: Aaron Hiller, 24, Marcus Lee Jackson, 33, Jonathan Rodriguez, 26, Corry K. Simpson, 38, and Frances Staten, 38.

Through a wide variety of investigative techniques, authorities traced the weapon used in the Lower Merion killing — found in Fulforth's Jenkintown apartment — back to the gang's firearm production facility, they said. The investigation included several search warrants and forensic examinations of mobile phone records.

Police described a "highly sophisticated, clandestine" facility where they said Fulforth and his gang used 3D printers to assemble a wide range of illegal firearms, all without serial numbers, making them nearly impossible to trace.

Fulforth also produced "switches," devices which essentially convert firearms to machine guns, significantly increasing both his profit and the danger posed by the weapons, authorities said.

In addition, the group produced firearm suppressors or silencers, making the final product an extremely rare, lethal chimera: a silent machine gun, according to the DA.

The group faces a wide array of charges, including corrupt organizations, dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity, illegal sale of firearms, criminal conspiracy, and more. The five suspects not charged with murder will have bail set at an upcoming arraignment. The other three have been booked indefinitely at Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

A preliminary hearing will be scheduled in the coming days following the arraignments.