Kevin William McCloud, of Philadelphia, was the beneficiary of a straw-buying scheme, police said.

A Philadelphia man has been sentenced to 19 to 38 years in state prison for his role in illegally obtaining firearms as part of a three-county gun-trafficking and straw-buying scheme, which was disbanded by the Montgomery District Attorney’s Violent Crime Unit.

Kevin William McCloud, 33, of Gillingham Street, who has a criminal record for purchasing and possessing firearms, was sentenced by Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Wendy G. Rothstein on charges of corrupt organizations, conspiracy in the illegal sale or transfer of firearms, conspiracy. in the sale or transfer of firearms to an ineligible person, persons who do not own firearms, possession of a firearm with an altered manufacturer number, and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with incidents occurring between 2020 and 2023, according to charging documents.

McCloud had a trial without a jury, according to The Mercury.

Authorities said McCloud conspired with major player Bryan Jaurice Clark Jr., 27, of General Patterson Drive in Cheltenham Township, to obtain five guns, four of which had obliterated serial numbers. According to the report, Clark was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison for his role in the trafficking ring.

Clark, prosecutors said, purchased 17 of a total of 21 guns from the trafficking ring in Hatfield Township and Feasterville, Bucks County, between September 2020 and April 2021. Clark, authorities said, then returned and sold or transferred the guns to McCloud.

Police said a clerk at the Hatfield gun store alerted authorities that Clark had purchased Glock and Smith & Wesson .40 and 9mm semi-automatic pistols under “suspicious circumstances.”

“There are no Bryan Clarks without the Kevin McClouds of the world. So they must be held accountable for receiving these weapons,” Assistant District Attorney William Harry Highland III said, according to the report.

Read more about the sentencing and investigation here.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.