W. Reading man sentenced in drug and gun cases

A West Reading man will spend at least four years behind bars on drug and weapons charges in incidents in Pottstown and Royersford.

Amin D. Jacobs, 37, of the 400 block of Franklin Street was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 4 to 8 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of carrying a firearm without a license and intending to deliver controlled substances between October and November 2020.

Judge Virgil B. Walker imposed the sentence as part of a plea agreement and said two firearms seized during the investigations will be forfeited to the district attorney’s office.

Pottstown police said they found a loaded .45-caliber handgun and various controlled substances, including 16 grams of fentanyl, inside a vehicle that was abandoned after police tried to conduct a traffic stop of the occupants on Oct. 25, 2020.

That vehicle subsequently was linked to Jacobs after his identification was found inside and after police reviewed footage from video surveillance cameras that showed Jacobs driving the vehicle, according to court papers.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Joseph Waeltz Jr. argued for a significant prison sentence against Jacobs.

“Sixteen grams of fentanyl is an extraordinary amount of a very dangerous drug and when you pair that with a dangerous tool such as a firearm you are asking for violence in the streets…and you’re asking for reckless behavior by using that firearm to protect that fentanyl,” Waeltz argued. “Both of those things together have led to violence in our communities and that’s why state prison is important in a case like this.”

During a separate incident in Royersford, on Nov. 11, 2020 at 2:11 a.m. police saw a BMW vehicle parked in the 500 block of Oak Street with its headlamps on and Jacobs asleep or passed out in the driver’s seat with what appeared to be a marijuana blunt on his lap, according to court documents.

When police asked Jacobs to get out of the vehicle, they said, he put the car into drive and fled.

After a brief pursuit, the vehicle was found unoccupied in the rear of the 500 block of Oak Street, police said.

Police obtained a warrant to search the vehicle, which had been reported stolen in West Reading. During the search they seized a pistol, methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, $1,147 and two digital scales, according to a criminal complaint.

A records check determined the pistol had been reported stolen in South Carolina.

Authorities said Jacobs was prohibited from possessing firearms due to previous felony convictions.