The trial of Reuben King, the Leacock Township Amish farmer accused of selling guns without a proper license, has been pushed back by a couple of months.
King, who was charged in June for allegedly selling firearms from October of 2019 until January of 2022 without a proper license, was set to face trial beginning Jan. 30 with a one-day jury selection at the James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse in Philadelphia before moving to Allentown for the trial.
But without a reason given, the trial was rescheduled on Jan. 17 until the morning of March 13 with jury selection beginning in Philadelphia.
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) raided King’s farm on West Cattail Road in Gordonville in January of 2022, confiscating a total of 615 guns, including rifles and shotguns of various calibers, according to court documents.
King told media outlets last year that he sold long guns mostly to the Amish for hunting from his private collection and that selling guns was not his main business, instead working primarily as a dairy farmer.
King was released in July on $50,000 bail, and his trial was originally scheduled to begin on Nov. 14 at the Edward N. Cahn Courthouse & Federal Building in Allentown in front of U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr.
If convicted, King could be sentenced for to up to five years in prison and fined up to $250,000.
Staff writer Michael Yoder is an award-winning journalist who has been honored with several Keystone Press Awards for his investigative pieces.
