Phila. charges gun "straw" buyer

It was not a stretch for Philadelphia police to believe that the car they stopped Jan. 17 in the 5600 block of West Berks Street in Overbrook might have something to do with the gunshots they had just heard.

The car's rear window was missing and its body was pocked with bullet holes. A 17-year-old from Southwest Philadelphia in the car was arrested.

But the real surprise came later, when agents from the city's Gun Violence Task Force searched the car and found two .40-caliber handguns hidden in the door panels. One of the guns, based on a receipt in the trunk, had been bought just three hours earlier by a West Philadelphia woman. It had not been stolen by the 17-year-old.

Yesterday, that West Philadelphia woman - Dorothy Perretta, 24, of the 800 block of North 45th Street - was the first person charged under a new program that targets adults who agree to be "straw" buyers of firearms for juveniles.

District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham called Perretta's purchase "particularly odious."

"It's bad no matter who does it," Abraham added, "but it is particularly wrong and telling when an adult can be hired by some kid to straw-purchase .40-caliber guns in a gun store in multiple quantities for sale to kids on the street to go commit crimes," Abraham added.

"These are not toys," Abraham said of the handguns. "These are huge lethal weapons."

Speaking in front of the Family Court building at 1801 Vine St., Abraham was joined by Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett, Family Court Administrative Judge Kevin Dougherty, Deputy Police Commissioner Richard Ross, and State Sen. Larry Farnese (D., Phila.).

Abraham said from 10 to 20 juveniles are arrested each month for illegally possessing a firearm.

Under the initiative, funded with part of an annual $5 million state grant that created the task force two years ago, the case of any juvenile arrested for a crime involving a gun will be handled by an assistant district attorney and Family Court judge who will try to learn the source of the weapon.

Dougherty said adult straw buyers "have exploited their relationship with the juvenile. The rehabilitation of the juvenile will begin by having them provide us with the name of the adult who provided them with the gun."

Dougherty said "any juvenile arrested with a gun will not leave the Youth Study Center" before his or her case is adjudicated, to protect public safety.

Juveniles who cooperate have the chance to avoid a felony record that will "follow them for the rest of their lives. . . . We're trying to keep our children to go to State College as opposed to State Road," Dougherty said, referring to the city's prison complex in the Northeast.

State law bars anyone under 18 from buying or possessing a handgun. Abraham said an adult who buys and provides a handgun to a juvenile is guilty of a third-degree felony that carries a prison term of up to seven years.

Since the Gun Violence Task Force was created two years ago, Corbett said, more than 949 investigations have been opened, with 285 people arrested, and 577 firearms confiscated.

According to the District Attorney's Office, 85 of the adult arrests have resulted in convictions and four juvenile arrests have resulted in adjudications. Most cases are are pending in the court system.

Perretta, who was arrested Jan. 29, remains in custody on $150,000 bail on counts of conspiracy and illegal transfer of firearms, and related charges.

Abraham also announced the arrests of 16 others from Philadelphia, Bucks County and Georgia who were charged with making straw gun buys for convicted felons and others not legally permitted to own them.