PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Samir Ahmad, 29, of Philadelphia, PA, was charged by Criminal Complaint with firearms trafficking and selling firearms to a person unlawfully in the United States, arising from his sale of two semi-automatic pistols to a confidential informant while he was employed as a Deputy Sheriff with the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office.
According to the court documents, Ahmad was employed as a Deputy Sheriff with the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office beginning in February 2018. In October 2022, when Ahmad was a sworn law enforcement officer as a Deputy Sheriff, he allegedly sold two semi-automatic pistols and ammunition to a confidential informant. During the exchange, the informant explained to Ahmad that he was unlawfully in the United States, and that he could “get deported” if he was caught in possession of a gun. As detailed in the Criminal Complaint, Ahmad responded, simply: “You don’t got to worry about none of that.” The defendant made $3,000 from the sale of the firearms. On October 19, 2022, Ahmad was terminated from employment with the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office and arrested by federal agents.
The investigation is ongoing.
“As alleged, Samir Ahmad abused his authority – to the greatest extent possible – as a sworn law enforcement officer,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “The defendant was allegedly illegally selling firearms on the street to at least one person who was not permitted to possess them, adding fuel to the already-incendiary fire of deadly gun violence in the City of Philadelphia. Working with our law enforcement partners, we are doing all that we can to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the violence.”
“The idea of a sworn public servant so blatantly undermining public safety is reprehensible,” said Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Philadelphia is awash in illegal guns, which are being used to commit violent crimes, so every weapon we can take off the street and every trafficker we can lock up makes a difference. The FBI and our partners will continue to do everything in our power to make this city safer.”
“The result of this investigation is the paradigm of collaboration between our local, state, and federal partners,” said Eric Degree, acting Special Agent in charge of ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division. “We cannot let the gun violence we are seeing become the norm. We will continue to use our expertise to identify, investigate, and incarcerate those who commit and those who facilitate the violent firearm crimes that plague our streets.”
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 15 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General, and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys J. Jeanette Kang and Justin T. Ashenfelter.