Norristown heroin trafficker sent to jail
NORRISTOWN » A Philadelphia man has jail in his future on charges he trafficked heroin in Norristown.
Joshua Santa, 24, of West Annsbury Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to nine to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to charges of possession with intent to deliver heroin and cocaine in connection with December 2016 incidents. Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who accepted a plea agreement in the matter, also ordered Santa to complete three years’ probation following parole.
The sentence means Santa will be under court supervision for about five years.
The judge ordered Santa to report to jail on Sept. 22 to begin serving the sentence. Santa, who is eligible for the jail’s work release program during his incarceration, also will be under addict supervision during his probationary and parole period, the judge said.
An investigation of Santa began in November 2016 when county detectives received information that a male with the street name “Kid” was distributing heroin in Norristown, according to a criminal complaint. “Kid” was subsequently determined to be Santa.
“The information was that Kid could be coldcalled by anyone who wanted heroin delivered,” detectives alleged in the criminal complaint.
Beginning in early December, undercover detectives had cellphone communications with Santa who eventually arranged to deliver two bundles of heroin to an undercover detective in exchange for $140, according to the arrest affidavit. During the conversations, Santa agreed to meet the undercover detective in the 800 block of West Main Street to complete the drug transaction.
When Santa arrived at the agreed upon location detectives approached him. At that time Santa was discovered possessing two bundles of suspected heroin in his pants pocket, court papers indicate. Detectives alleged the heroin was packaged in such a way to indicate that it was possessed with the intent to distribute.
Police also obtained a warrant to search Santa’s vehicle and inside they discovered four bundles of suspected heroin and one ounce of a white powder they determined to be cocaine, according to the arrest affidavit.