NORRISTOWN — Pointing to the danger of straw purchases and their connection to gun violence, a judge sent a Lansdale woman to jail for participating in a 2021 scheme during which she purchased an assault-style rifle for her boyfriend, a Norristown man who was not permitted to have a gun and who earlier this year was charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a man on the Schuylkill River Trail in West Norriton.
“These gun cases in this county are out of control…one right after another coming in here. There has to be a message sent to the public that this can’t continue,” Montgomery County Judge Thomas P. Rogers said as he sentenced Hailey Anne Covelens to 11½ to 23 months in jail, a maximum county jail term, on charges of selling or transferring a firearm to an ineligible person, conspiracy and unsworn falsification to authorities.
With an additional four years of probation, consecutive to parole, the sentence means Covelens will be under court supervision for about six years.
Covelens, 20, of the 1100 block of Beechwood Avenue, previously pleaded guilty to the charges in connection with her May 18, 2021, purchase of a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 rifle at a Hatfield Township gun shop and providing it to Cody Kavon Reed, who was identified in court as her “boyfriend.”
The rifle that Covelens illegally purchased for Reed was not linked to the alleged March 2023 murder on the Schuylkill River Trail for which Reed is awaiting trial.
However, at the time Covelens purchased the rifle, Reed, 23, of the 300 block of West Marshall Street, Norristown, was prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm because of his previous criminal record, including a robbery conviction.
Rogers said he was struck by statements Covelens allegedly made that “she would do anything for that person,” referring to Reed.
Court documents alleged Covelens told a friend she purchased the rifle, just months after she turned 18, and “planned on filing off the serial number, reporting it stolen and giving it to Cody so that he could ‘handle business.’”
While Covelens was not charged with obliterating a serial number, Rogers said allegations that she had conversations about it with others were a serious matter.
“There’s no room for that. I will not tolerate that under any circumstances,” Rogers said.
Covelens’ legal troubles are not over.
According to testimony, in July, Covelens was arrested on felony perjury and hindering apprehension charges, for which she is awaiting a December preliminary hearing, in connection with statements she allegedly made to a grand jury investigating Reed’s alleged involvement in the West Norriton murder.
Assistant District Attorney Samantha Anne Arena sought the maximum county jail sentence against Covelens for the straw purchase scheme, arguing it was warranted given the gravity of the crime and its impact on community safety.
“She did this willingly. She did this at the direction of her boyfriend. She knew what she was doing and nonetheless purchased that rifle for (Reed),” Arena argued. “These are very serious charges that don’t call for a mitigated sentence.
“The fact that she’s buying a gun that she’s legally able to purchase, at that point in time, for somebody who is prohibited, that circumvents the laws that are on the books. Having a gun out on the streets in possession of somebody who can’t have them, that in and of itself poses a danger to the community, and the fact that they were talking about potentially obliterating serial numbers just compounds that danger, that unknown of what they’re going to be using that gun for, ” Arena added.
Defense lawyer Paul Jared Mallis sought a more mitigated punishment, arguing for a time served sentence, giving Covelens credit for the five months she previously spent in jail before being released on bail while awaiting court action. In the alternative, Mallis suggested a non-custodial sentence such as house arrest with electronic monitoring would be appropriate.
“The punitive aspects, that box has been checked. She served about 139 days incarceration. This is an individual who’s 20 years of age, with no prior criminal history, who since her release remained compliant with bail, who obtained a job and who attained her high school diploma. I think those are serious strides for somebody like my client. She’s accomplished a great deal since her release,” Mallis argued.
Mallis said Covelens had a difficult upbringing and “really lacked structure throughout her life” but is someone “who has shown remarkable growth.” Mallis suggested Reed was more culpable in the straw purchase scheme.
Under the sentence imposed by Rogers, Covelens will receive credit for time she spent in jail between Sept. 30, 2021, and Feb. 15, 2022, when she was released on bail
Covelens, who also listed an address in the 400 block of East Main Street in Lansdale, did not address the judge before learning her fate.
But Covelens’ father, James, told the judge his daughter is “a good person” and that he was shocked to learn about her behavior.
“In my mind, she made a bad decision, a bad call,” James Covelens told the judge, adding he understood the serious nature of the crime and was not “making light of it.”
A straw purchase occurs when a person with a clean background purchases firearms on behalf of another person to conceal the true ownership of the firearm. Those who are unable to legally purchase firearms include convicted felons, domestic violence offenders, juveniles and mentally ill individuals.
“Text messages between Reed and Covelens show that he directed her on what type of firearm and ammunition to buy,” Hatfield Detective William D. Steinberg Jr. alleged in a criminal complaint, adding that in recorded phone conversations and text communications that Reed had with others he indicated Covelens “was going to buy him a firearm because she does not have a criminal record.”
In a May 18, 2021, text message to a male friend, Reed wrote, “I just got a new chop,” which is slang for an AK-47 or other type of rifle, detectives alleged.
Court documents indicate detectives obtained nine videos from a security camera in the gun shop that captured the entire transaction during which Reed allegedly pointed to the rifle that Covelens subsequently paid for and for which she completed required firearms purchase paperwork.
“Furthermore, Reed’s cellular telephone contained numerous images and videos of him possessing and firing the same firearm that was purchased by Covelens,” Steinberg alleged.
Reed also faces charges in connection with his alleged role in the straw purchase incident and is awaiting trial on those charges.
But Reed faces even larger legal troubles.
In March, Reed was charged with first-, second-, and third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, persons not to possess a firearm, firearms not to be carried without a license, flight to avoid apprehension and possessing an instrument of crime in connection with the alleged March 2, 2023, slaying of Daquan Kennard Tucker, 25, of Rogers Road in Lower Providence, during an apparent robbery on the Schuylkill River Trail in West Norriton.
Reed is scheduled to stand trial on the homicide charges in December with his alleged co-defendant Marquise Alexander Johnson, 23, of Philadelphia.
Reed and Johnson, who authorities said fled from the area and remained on the lam until April 6 when they were apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service in Atlantic City, remain in the county jail without bail pending the homicide trial.
Reed, according to court records, was free on bail while awaiting court action on the 2021 straw purchase charges at the time of the alleged murder.
