Attorney General Dave Sunday's office has recently taken a strong stance against gun violence, particularly targeting straw purchasing in Allegheny County. A task force dedicated to suppressing local gun violence identified and charged six individuals believed to be supplying firearms illegally to prohibited persons.
Among those charged are Leneja Cogdell, 30; Martell Herriot, 27; Deonquay Wilson, 23; Halle Sokol, 25; Deveda Horsley, 26; and Raquel Betters, 27, the Office of the Attorney General revealed. Straw purchasing, which is obtaining firearms legally and then transferring them to those barred from owning them, and straw lending were the central illegal activities linked with the individuals charged. With several firearms purchased in recent years, Cogdell is notable for having transferred and lent them to a significant other and a relative.
The task force alleges that Herriot and Wilson collaborated to traffic firearms to ineligible individuals. While most defendants are in custody and awaiting arraignment on multiple felony charges, Cogdell remains at large with an active warrant for her arrest. Attorney General Sunday underscored the gravity of these offenses, stating, "Straw purchasing often leads to violence, and that is why my office, along with our partners, take this conduct very seriously." He continued, "These individuals all took deliberate and intentional action to get firearms into the hands of dangerous people."
The efforts of the Allegheny County Gun Violence Task Force, a coalition of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, have been concentrated on the illegal movement and possession of firearms, as well as on acts of gun violence. At least eleven firearms were illegally transferred or lent by the defendants, according to the task force.
Local prosecution of these cases will be managed by the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office.
