Benjamin Ford faces two new felonies over Marshall gun sale

Benjamin Ford, a 44-year-old man from Ross, purchased a total of 205 handguns in Pennsylvania over an 11-year period, according to a criminal complaint filed by the state Office of Attorney General. Law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York have recovered seven of those firearms. The state filed two new felony firearms charges against Ford on Oct. 21 related to one specific gun that was bought in Marshall and found in New Jersey.

The new charges stem from a used Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 that Ford purchased on Oct. 23, 2022, at Keystone Shooting Center in Marshall. Court records indicate this was roughly the 160th handgun Ford had acquired. At the time of the purchase, three of his previous firearms had already been recovered by police. Ford filled out state police record of sale paperwork for the Smith & Wesson, answering yes to a question asking if he was the actual buyer. He signed the document to indicate the provided facts were true and correct.

The specific handgun was recovered on March 20, 2026, on a man in Newark, New Jersey. A forensics lab in New Jersey restored the weapon's obliterated serial number. The complaint states that Ford was the last known buyer for each of the seven recovered firearms. The individuals found possessing these guns were not legally allowed to buy or possess a firearm. Serial numbers on all seven weapons had been obliterated and required restoration by crime labs.

Ford is originally from New Jersey, according to the complaint. Investigators found records of sales, transfers, or trades for only two of the 205 handguns to another buyer after Ford. There are no such records for the other 203 firearms. Ford did not report any of the recovered firearms as stolen. This includes a 9 mm handgun he bought in November 2021 that police recovered during a traffic stop in Swissvale in January 2025. Ford claimed someone broke into his home and took the Swissvale gun but did not report the theft. Ross police had no reports of firearms being stolen from his home.

When authorities searched Ford's home on March 26, 2026, the day he was arrested, none of the 205 firearms were found. Ford was initially charged in March after six of his handguns were recovered by police in three states. Three of the six felony charges against him were thrown out in a preliminary hearing in April. He was held for trial on the remaining charges and has been held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond. A status hearing for those original charges is scheduled for Feb. 22.

An attorney general special agent assigned to the Allegheny County Gun Violence Task Force filed the newest criminal complaint. Ford’s listed attorney in the initial case, Timothy Joseph Lyon, did not respond to a request for comment on Oct. 26. Ford was denied bail and deemed a threat to the community when he was arraigned on the new charges on Oct. 22. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 4 before District Judge Matthew J. Brungo.