A convicted felon from Philadelphia has been indicted in connection with the theft of 26 machine guns and other weapons from a North Hills firearms dealer following a gun show in December outside Philadelphia.

Leon "Pep" Booker, 31, was charged last month in federal court in Philadelphia after prosecutors said he sold several of the guns to an undercover agent and a witness.

The weapons were stolen Dec. 21 from dealer Charlie Logan's pickup, which he had parked at a restaurant in King of Prussia after leaving the gun show at the Valley Forge Convention Center.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said 23 of the firearms belonged to Arms and Ordnance, owned by Mr. Logan, of Marshall, and three belonged to Bloodhound Arms, owned by Scott Van Gorder.

Both men are federally licensed machine gun dealers and share a business address in the Frederick Logan Co. building on Commonwealth Drive.

In online gun forums, many firearms enthusiasts lambasted Mr. Logan for not keeping a better eye on his collection, which included 14 machine guns as well as sniper rifles and other high-end armsweaponry.

ATF, which had offered a reward for tips leading to the recovery of the guns, would not comment on how they caught Mr. Booker or if there are other suspects, but spokesman John Hageman said the investigation is ongoing.

Mr. Booker was charged by complaint in March and indicted last month.

In court papers, federal prosecutors said he told a witness on Jan. 8 that he had bought all the stolen guns for $8,000 and that he was offering them all for sale.

On three occasions, prosecutors said, he sold a total of five machine guns and one semiautomatic rifle to the witness and to an ATF agent posing as a pawnbroker.

In the first transaction, a grand jury witness said Mr. Booker sold him two machine guns for $6,500 at a Philadelphia club. He said he had more weapons for sale and sold the witness two more for $6,000 on Jan. 12.

The third transaction happened on Jan. 26, when Mr. Booker agreed to meet with the witness and a pawnbroker, who was actually an agent wearing a recording device. According to the indictment, Mr. Booker told the witness that he wanted to wait until dark to make the sale because the guns were so "ugly, I don't want nobody to see them."

He made the sale for $8,000.

Mr. Booker has not been charged with stealing the guns from Mr. Logan, but with knowingly selling stolen guns and with illegal possession because he's a convicted felon.

He has a record in three eastern counties for drug offenses, theft and forgery. Under federal law, convicted felons can't have guns and face stiff penalties if they're caught with one.

"Not only was it illegal for him to sell the stolen, fully automatic machine guns," prosecutors wrote in a detention request, "but he is not permitted to possess even the smallest handgun because of his past criminal convictions."

Prosecutors said Mr. Booker faces at least 30 years in prison.