Traffic stop lands man in prison

Jose Ayala was in possession of heroin when he was pulled over on expressway

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 four-way 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