Man sentenced for trafficking fentanyl from motel room

Rodrick James Harris sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison

NORRISTOWN >> A Pottstown man is on his way to prison after he admitted to trafficking fentanyl from a room he occupied at a motel in the borough.

Rodrick James Harris, 38, who listed an address at America’s Best Value Inn at 29 E. High St., was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 5 to 10 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver fentanyl in connection with June 2022 incidents in the borough.

Judge Risa Vetri Ferman imposed the sentence as part of a plea agreement.

Court documents indicate Harris could be eligible for the state Department of Corrections’ Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive program, which allows eligible non-violent offenders to receive reductions of their minimum state prison sentences if they successfully complete all required drug treatment and maintain goodconduct records in prison.

If Harris is enrolled in the program, he could reduce his minimum sentence to 50 months incarceration, according to court papers.

An investigation of Harris began in 2022 when members of the Pottstown Police Department’s Community Response Unit received information that Harris was trafficking heroin/fentanyl from a room he occupied at America’s Best Value Inn, according to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Police Officer Zachary Robinson and county Detective Andrew Rook.

Investigators conducted surveillance in the area of the motel as well as controlled buys of narcotics from Harris over a period of several months, according to the arrest affidavit.

On June 8, 2022, investigators made contact with an occupant of another room at the motel who revealed he had purchased bags of fentanyl from Harris on that day and in the past, adding he typically purchased 10 to 15 bags at a time for $10 per bag, according to the criminal complaint.

Investigators obtained a warrant to search Harris and the motel room he occupied on June 8.

During the searches, investigators seized about 49 bundles of suspected fentanyl from Harris’ motel room and his person.

“Each of the bundles had approximately 13 bags of suspected fentanyl in them totaling approximately 637 bags of suspected fentanyl,” Robinson and Rook alleged in the criminal complaint.

The drugs were stored in clear sandwich-type bags and an Ajax cleanser container that had a hidden compartment, according to the arrest affidavit. Authorities also seized drug packaging materials.

In addition to the fentanyl, detectives seized amounts of suspected methamphetamine and suspected crack cocaine and $1,898 cash.

Detectives alleged the controlled substances were possessed by Harris with the intent to deliver.

Other charges of possession of controlled substances, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of drug paraphernalia were dismissed against Harris as part of the plea agreement.