How some guns wound up on Boston streets: One guy bought them in South Carolina, where they're legal, then sold them to a guy in Boston, where they're not

Two men, one from South Carolina, one from Roxbury, face federal charges for the way they allegedly shipped guns here - for resale to, among others, gang members and teenagers - the US Attorney's office reports.

The man in South Carolina, Trevon Brunson, 31, would purchase guns in Columbia, SC sporting-goods shops, then hand them over - for a price - to a convicted felon from Massachusetts, Aizavier Roache, 30, who would then bring them up here for resale, according to an affidavit by an ATF agent on the case.

Brunson had bought at least 46 guns in the Columbia area since 2020 with at least 24 of those winding up on Boston streets, the feds charge.

Roache was already facing state charges of possession of crack with intent to distribute and driving with a suspended license when arrested on the federal charges.

Brunson was arrested in Columbia on Jan. 9 and now awaits transportation to Boston to face one count of firearms trafficking and conspiracy to traffic firearms. Roache was arrested Jan. 5.

The two, who knew each other from the days Roache lived in South Carolina, had been on ATF radar since at least 2021 - in fact, ATF agents in Columbia first interviewed Brunson on Aug. 5 of that year about guns he had allegedly bought for a guy he identified only as "Boston," who would text him photos of guns he wanted, then would pick them up.

According to the US Attorney's office, the two seemed to stay low after that until this year, when they began moving guns north again.

Brunson would call around to local gun shops to see who had them, then pick them up. Roache would pay via Cash App and then go down to South Carolina to pick them up - and bring them back to Boston to resell on the streets, the feds say. According to the affidavit, Roache, who met Brunson when living in South Carolina - paid Brunson $300 for each gun shopping run. After he picked up the guns, he'd try to scratch out their serial numbers.

Although there's nothing stopping somebody from buying 46 guns over three years in South Carolina, gun buyers do have to sign a form they are buying them for their own use and not for resale - only licensed firearms dealers can sell guns. Roache, meanwhile, is barred from buying any guns anywhere under federal law because he has been convicted of at least one felony with a potential sentence of at least a year, according to the affidavit, which does not state what that crime was.

One of the four guns Brunson bought on April 25, 2023, was recovered by Boston Police after a shooting just 15 days later, according to the affidavit:

In September 2023, I became aware that BRUNSON purchased four (4) firearms of the same make, model, and caliber in South Carolina on April 25, 2023. Since that time, three (3) of those firearms have been recovered in Boston, MA on individuals without pistol permits. One of the firearms purchased on that date was preliminarily linked through NIBIN to a non-fatal shooting in Boston just 15 days after its purchase. That same firearm was ultimately recovered by law enforcement just 56 days after the purchase, (41 days after the shooting) on an individual without a valid MA pistol permit, who was gang affiliated. Additionally, one of the four firearms from April 25th was recovered in a juvenile's vehicle on August 30, 2023 (127 days after purchase), as well as one on an individual without a valid MA pistol permit on August 26, 2023 (123 days after purchase), in addition to the original firearm used from the shooting recovered on June 20, 2023.

As of the date of this affidavit, eleven (11) firearms purchased by BRUNSON in South Carolina since 2020 have been recovered in Massachusetts.

The agent, however, cautions that his numbers are based only on information from the firearms dealers whose records he obtained and that Brunson could have made additional purchases - and sold the guns to people other than Roache.

Text messages recovered by ATF showed that the pair would sometimes message each other while Brunson was still in a store - and had to decide just which gun to buy, like on Feb. 2, 2023:

On April 25, according to the affidavit, Brunson bought four Taurus, PT111 G2A, 9mm pistols from one of the two Academy Sports & Outdoors in Columbia for 1,123.16, paying $240 in cash and using a debit card in Roache's name for the remaining $883.16.

A review of the text message exchange found on ROACHE’s cell phone between RO ACHE and BRUNSON indicate that ROACHE was in South Carolina at the time BRUNSON purchased the four (4) firearms and that the two spent time together the day of and day before the purchase on April 25, 2023.

On Oct. 26, the affidavit continues, Brunson alerted Roache to an upcoming gun show at the Jamil Shrine Temple:

MAC refers to a gun made by the Military Armament Corp., the affidavit explains, adding ATF has no evidence that Brunson actually went to the gun show and picked up any firearms.

Around 1:15 a.m. on Nov. 16, Boston Police arrested Roache on Shawmut Avenue near Ramsay Park in Roxbury on a charge of driving with a suspended license. Police seized his phone - which ATF then obtained a search warrant for.

If convicted, the two face up to 15 years in federal prison.

Innocent, etc.