Man draws prison for heroin trafficking in Upper Perk
NORRISTOWN » The next stop is prison for a Philadelphia man found possessing a backpack containing 800 packets of heroin as well as a cache of prescription medications as he traveled through Pennsburg and East Greenville.
Lance Edward Williams, 37, of the 5000 block of Erringer Place, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 5 to 10 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of possession with intent to deliver heroin and other controlled substances such as oxycodone, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with a Sept. 14, 2016, incident.
Judge Thomas C. Branca also ordered Williams to complete six years’ probation following parole, meaning Williams will be under court supervision for about 16 years.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Samantha Thompson.
An investigation began about 7 p.m. when Upper Perk police first observed a 2012 Chrysler 300S vehicle with “heavily dark tinted windows” traveling on Quakertown Avenue near Penn Street in Pennsburg. Police alleged the window tint was so dark that they were unable to see inside the vehicle.
Police followed the vehicle, initiated a traffic stop at the intersection of Main and Fourth streets in East Greenville
and made contact with Williams, the driver of the vehicle. Officers observed that Williams’ “hands were shaking, he was breathing heavily and he was avoiding eye contact,” Upper Perk Police Officer Michael Dalbey alleged in the arrest affidavit.
“The officers also observed that Williams was extremely slow to respond to routine questions as if he was in a state of shock,” Dalbey alleged.
Williams subsequently consented to a search of his vehicle. During the search, officers found a designer backpack in the backseat of the vehicle, court papers indicate. In the backpack and in the center console of the car, police found approximately 800 bags of heroin as well as a “substantial amount” of prescription painkillers and more than $3,000 cash, according to the criminal complaint.
“The heroin has a street value estimated to be between $8,000 and $12,000,” Dalbey alleged in the arrest affidavit. “Lance Williams claimed ownership of the bag and was taken into custody.
“Williams, a Philadelphia resident, admitted that he was a heroin and prescription pill trafficker and that prior to being stopped by police tonight he was in transit to a location to deliver an amount of heroin,” Dalbey added.
Investigators reviewed the content of Williams’ cellphone and alleged it revealed “corroborating and additional evidence related to his drug trafficking enterprise.”