Bobby Andrew Johnson, formerly of Richlandtown, was sentenced Monday for a string of firearm thefts authorities say he committed mainly in Upper Bucks County between April and September 2018. According to the county district attorney’s office, Johnson’s modus operandi was to target “cars from random areas and developments” for his firearm thefts. He then sold the weapons, profiting thousands of dollars from their sale, the DA’s office said in a news release about the sentencing.
A 25-year-old former Richlandtown resident was sentenced on Monday to six to 15 years in state prison for entering several unlocked vehicles in upper Bucks County and stealing handguns and other items, which authorities said he then sold.
Bobby Andrew Johnson committed the thefts from April 2018 to September 2018 and sold five stolen handguns, including one that was found at the home of a juvenile, according to a news release by the Bucks County District Attorney’s office.
The sentencing followed Johnson’s November guilty plea to five counts each of person not to possess a firearm, illegal sale or transfer of firearms and receiving stolen property, three counts of theft by unlawful taking and two counts of theft from a motor vehicle.
In addition to the state prison he received, Johnson was also ordered to pay $1,785 in restitution, complete his GED and take decision-making courses, the DA’s office said.
In addition to stealing guns from vehicles in Richlandtown borough–where reports of the thefts were taken by Pennsylvania State Police–Johnson stole guns in Bethlehem, Northampton County, and in Bedminster Township, Bucks County, the news release said.
“The gun stolen in Bedminster Township was located on Dec. 18, 2018, at the home of a juvenile in Milford Township,” the district attorney’s office said Monday. “The juvenile told police he bought it from a man living in Richland Township. On May 9, 2019, Quakertown Police Sgt. Joshua Mallery served a warrant at the man’s house in Richland Township and located another gun, which had been reported stolen out of Quakertown in July 2018. The investigation led to Johnson, who admitted during a police interview that he took items out of cars from random areas and developments, making about $30,000 in proceeds, which he shared with his getaway driver.”
“He admitted (to) selling several guns to the man in Richland Township,” it continued. “Because of a 2015 felony burglary conviction, Johnson was prohibited from possessing a firearm.”
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The DA’s office said the case was investigated by Sgt. Mallery and the Quakertown Borough Police Department and Trooper Christopher Cleveland and the Pennsylvania State Police, with assistance from the Bethlehem Police Department and the Bedminster Police Department. Deputy District Attorney Thomas C. Gannon prosecuted this case.
