A Glenside man, working with his brothers, oversaw a three-county ring that traded drugs for guns, DA says

A 20-year-old Glenside man, working with his two older brothers, oversaw a tri-county criminal organization that peddled illegal guns, trading them for drugs and money to criminals who couldn’t legally obtain them, prosecutors said Thursday.

Clayton Robinson managed what Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub called a “family business” with his brothers Julian, 31, and Kenneth, 18. They coordinated closely with three other men — Maurice Baker IV, 23, Brett Portner, 22, and Joseph Lynch III, 25 — who purchased 34 guns on their behalf, coordinating with the Robinson brothers before, after, and sometimes even during the transactions at gun stores in Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties, according to court documents filed in the case.

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Those guns were purchased between November 2020 and February, investigators said. Only six have been recovered by police so far, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, whose office will be prosecuting the case.

“People providing criminals guns is dangerous to our community and it’s dangerous to our region,” Steele said Thursday.

In his comments, Steele made reference to Philadelphia and its spike in gun crimes, though he noted that it was unclear if the guns recovered from the ring had been used in any crimes.

“I think we’re all aware of the carnage affecting an adjacent county here, and we’re all working together to put an end to it,” Steele said.

All of the suspects but Lynch were arrested this week and charged with operating a corrupt organization, illegally transferring firearms, receiving stolen property, and related offenses. Kenneth Robinson was released on $50,000 unsecured bail, but the four others remained in custody, court records show.

Robinson’s attorney, Laurie Jubelirer, declined to comment Thursday. Brian McVan, the attorney representing Portner, did not respond to a request for comment. It was unclear whether the other suspects had hired attorneys.

Investigators learned of the ring in April, when an Abington man reported that two of his guns had been stolen and that he suspected his girlfriend’s son, Shaun Dehaven, was responsible, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed in the case.

During an interview with detectives, Dehaven admitted he had stolen the man’s Smith & Wesson revolver and pistol to sell to Kenneth Robinson, whom he worked with, the affidavit said. (Dehaven faces criminal charges for the theft and has a criminal case pending in Montgomery County.)

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Abington police served a search warrant on the Robinson home and found a Taurus handgun that Lynch had purchased in January 2021, as well as an empty box belonging to another gun Lynch purchased, along with another handgun that had been purchased by a different person not named in the ring.

In an interview with detectives, Clayton Robinson admitted trading Percocet pills to Dehaven for the Smith & Wesson revolver, which was later recovered from the roof of his home in Glenside, according to the affidavit.

Detectives then seized Robinson’s phone, on which they said they discovered a trove of evidence relating to the ring’s activities: text messages between Robinson and three alleged straw purchasers about the type of guns to buy and how much he’d pay for them; other messages coordinating sales of illegal guns for cash and Xanax; and even a video demonstration of Robinson using a power tool to shave off the serial number of one of the guns purchased illegally.

“All I can say is, thank God for stupid criminals,” Weintraub said, in reference to the video, which he described as a strong piece of evidence of guilt.

Weintraub said four of the handguns were recovered by police in unrelated traffic stops made months before the Robinsons had been identified as the leaders of the ring. And one of the weapons, the affidavit said, was in the possession of a juvenile.

He and Steele asked that anyone with information about or in possession of the 28 remaining firearms contact authorities or turn the weapons in, saying they could do so anonymously.

“We’d rather have the guns retrieved than investigate you,” Weintraub said. “These guns are everywhere, and they’re not out here for good purposes.”

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Montgomery County Detectives at 610-278-3648.