Lower Merion traffic stop lands man in prison

NORRISTOWN » A Philadelphia man is on his way to prison after a traffic stop along the Schuylkill Expressway in Lower Merion revealed he was in possession of 45 bundles of heroin.

Jose Ayala, 53, of the 200 block of Indiana Avenue, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 3 to 6 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver heroin in connection with the Aug. 30, 2019, incident.

The sentence was imposed by Judge Thomas C. Branca as part of a plea agreement.

The investigation began about 9:57 a.m. when state police at Philadelphia observed a Chevrolet Impala stopped on the shoulder of westbound Interstate 76 in

Lower Merion with its fourway flashers illuminated. Police stopped to see if the motorist needed assistance.

When questioned, the female driver of the vehicle told police she did not have a driver’s license and said she stopped the vehicle to retrieve her purse in the rear of the vehicle, according to the criminal complaint filed by state police Trooper Pedro Aldebol.

The woman told police she and her male front seat passenger, Ayala, had been on their way to Reading.

“At the time of initial contact with Ayala, I observed him to be shaking and to be stuttering in his responses as if he was extremely nervous,” Aldebol alleged, adding Ayala claimed he did not know his name.

When police checked the registration information for the vehicle they determined it was registered to Ayala, for whom there was an active arrest warrant. Police

subsequently took Ayala into custody for the active warrant. At that time, police asked Ayala if there were any illegal items in the vehicle.

“Ayala related that he did in fact have drugs in the vehicle. When asked where they were located Ayala related they were in a small black bag located on the passenger side floor,” Aldebol alleged.

During a search of the vehicle, police retrieved the black bag and determined it contained 45 bundles containing a total of 450 clear bags of suspected heroin stamped “chucky.”

Ayala subsequently told police that he was going to make about $1,800 selling the narcotics, according to the arrest affidavit.

Other charges of possessing controlled substances and possessing drug paraphernalia were dismissed against Ayala as part of the plea agreement.