NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man awaiting court action on homicide charges related to alleged gang violence in the city was in a Montgomery County courtroom on Monday where he admitted to soliciting others to purchase multiple firearms for him during an unrelated multi-county straw purchase scheme.

Rahmeir Hayes, 22, of the 2100 block of North 28th Street, was sentenced to 11 to 24 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of corrupt organizations, sales to ineligible persons and person not to possess firearms in connection with incidents that occurred between August 2020 and July 2023 in Montgomery, Chester, Bucks and Lehigh counties.

Judge Steven T. O’Neill imposed the sentence as part of a plea agreement.

“During a period of time, Mr. Hayes recruited three other individuals to purchase firearms for him and on his behalf because he was not eligible to purchase them by himself,” Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Robert Joseph Waeltz Jr. explained. “He caused nine firearms to be purchased on his behalf.

“The lengthy state prison term in this case was important because it really captures his role in the organization. Mr. Hayes was not merely a purchaser, he was the ringleader of this criminal enterprise,” Waeltz added.

With the charges, prosecutors alleged Hayes had a prior criminal record that prohibited him from possessing firearms.

A straw purchase occurs when someone who is legally allowed to purchase a firearm purchases one and then illegally gives it to someone who is not permitted to purchase that firearm.

Three others who purchased the guns on Hayes’ behalf also were charged in connection with the straw purchase scheme and are awaiting court action. The purchases included Glock .40-caliber, Ruger .45-caliber and Glock Model 26 9mm weapons, according to court documents.

The guns were purchased at gun stores in Montgomery, Chester, Bucks and Lehigh counties.

The scheme was uncovered by detectives with the district attorney’s Violent Crime Unit.

“The danger of straw purchase schemes is that these individuals who cannot have firearms and know they cannot have firearms are circumventing the law, obtaining the firearms that they cannot have and using other individuals to do that,” Waeltz said.

As he was escorted from the courtroom by sheriff’s deputies to begin serving the sentence, Hayes, who was represented by defense lawyer Tashawna Quamira Page, did not respond to a reporter’s question as to why he wanted the guns.

Only a few of the guns have been recovered.

“Some of these firearms are still on the streets and as is common in straw purchase schemes those firearms can find their way into the hands of other individuals who should not have them who are using those weapons as tools of criminal activity,” Waeltz said.

The investigation began on April14, 2021, when members of the Philadelphia Police Department responded to Weave Park Bridge on South Street for a report of males displaying handguns. A group was observed on surveillance cameras filming what appeared to be a rap video while handling firearms, according to the criminal complaint filed by Montgomery County detectives.

When officers approached the group one male threw a backpack over the bridge. When officers retrieved the backpack they found several 9mm and .45-caliber handguns inside.

Additionally, in a grassy area near the backpack officers found a Glock .45-caliber handgun with an obliterated serial number.

“Serial numbers are removed by persons who wish to hide the original purchase owner. If the firearm is over found by law enforcement, it makes it more difficult or impossible to trace back to the original owner or gun shop that the firearm was purchased from,” detectives wrote in the criminal complaint.

However, investigators were able to restore the serial number and the Glock was subsequently traced to having been purchased by Addie Lena Bey, 25,  of Philadelphia, on Dec. 1, 2020, at a gun store in Lafayette Hill, according to the criminal complaint.

“This firearm was never listed as lost or stolen by Bey,” detectives wrote in the criminal complaint.

The investigation determined Bey purchased two Glock .40-caliber firearms at the Montgomery County gun store on Dec. 1.

“This investigation identified Rahmeir Hayes working in concert with Bey on the illegal purchases of firearms,” detectives alleged.

Bey previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy-related charges in connection with the incident and is awaiting sentencing.

Hayes’ legal troubles are far from over.

In June, according to a press release issued by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, Hayes was among eight individuals arrested for their alleged roles in a spree of violence throughout North Philadelphia from 2021 to 2022 that “resulted in multiple homicides and numerous wounded survivors.”

The defendants are associated with street gangs in the city, according to the press release.

Hayes is awaiting a July 19 preliminary hearing on murder, conspiracy and weapons charges in connection with an alleged Sept. 18, 2021, homicide on West York Street in Philadelphia, according to court documents.