Ex-Montco deputy sheriff gets jail for role in drug ring

David Landis of Norristown sentenced to 15 years in prison

PHILADELPHIA » A former Montgomery County deputy sheriff will spend more than a decade in a federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to import and distribute “deadly opioids” in the Philadelphia region and beyond.

David Landis, 44, of East Norriton, was sentenced in

U.S. District Court in Philadelphia to

15 years in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a special assessment of

$6,300 on numerous charges related to his participation in a global drug-trafficking conspiracy.

U.S. District

Court Judge Gerald

J. Pappert imposed the punishment.

“This investigation uncovered illegal drug manufacturers in China who were flooding the

United States with poison in the form of deadly opioids,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams.

“The fact that this defendant — a former law enforcement officer

— would help them do so is a travesty.

Landis sent deadly drugs across this country and abroad, with no regard for the health or safety of others. The community will be a safer place with him behind bars for the foreseeable future,” Williams added.

Landis previously lived along Dogwood Lane in East Norriton and had been employed as a deputy sheriff for 10 years, from 2004 to 2014.

In October 2018, Landis pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to import controlled

“The fact that this defendant — a former law enforcement officer — would help them do so is a travesty. Landis sent deadly drugs across this country and abroad, with no regard for the health or safety of others. The community will be a safer place with him behind bars for the foreseeable future.”

— U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams