New charges added to firearms case

Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office investigators have expanded the scope of a long-running firearms investigation in Allegheny County. The expansion adds two new felony counts to the existing case against Benjamin Ford, 44, of Ross. The new filings date from October 21 and focus on a specific handgun purchased in Marshall.

The state originally charged Ford in March following the recovery of six handguns in three different states. Records indicate Ford acquired more than 200 handguns over an 11 year period. During a preliminary hearing in April, a judge dismissed three of the original six felony charges. Ford remains in the Allegheny County Jail without bond on the remaining counts. A status hearing for those initial charges is set for February 22.

The new criminal complaint comes from a special agent on the Allegheny County Gun Violence Task Force. The document notes that seven of the 205 handguns Ford bought in Pennsylvania have since been recovered. Law enforcement found these firearms in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Ford is a native of New Jersey, according to the filing.

Investigators found sales or transfer records for only two of the 205 firearms after Ford purchased them. No records exist for the other 203. For each of the seven recovered guns, Ford was the last known buyer. Each was found in the possession of individuals who were not legally permitted to possess firearms. Crime laboratories restored the serial numbers on all seven recovered weapons after finding them obliterated.

Ford did not report any of the recovered firearms as stolen. This includes a 9 mm handgun he bought in November 2021. Police recovered that specific gun during a traffic stop in Swissvale in January 2025. Ford told police that someone broke into his home and took the Swissvale pistol. However, he did not file a theft report. Ross police records show no reports of firearms stolen from his residence.

Authorities searched Ford's home on March 26, the day of his arrest. They did not find any of the 205 firearms during that search. Investigators later discovered a seventh firearm that Ford had bought in Marshall. This discovery led to the new charges. The complaint details that Ford bought a used Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 on October 23, 2022, at Keystone Shooting Center in Marshall.

The purchase marked the 160th handgun Ford had acquired. He bought it after three of his previous firearms were already recovered by police. A man in Newark, New Jersey, possessed the Smith & Wesson when police recovered it on March 20 of this year. A New Jersey forensics lab restored the gun's obliterated serial number. Ford signed state police paperwork for the sale, confirming he was the actual buyer and that the facts provided were true.

Timothy Joseph Lyon, the attorney listed for Ford in the initial case, did not respond to a request for comment on October 26. Court records show Ford was denied bail on the new charges on October 22. The court deemed him a threat to the community at arraignment. A preliminary hearing on the new charges is scheduled for November 4 before District Judge Matthew J. Brungo.