Glenside man sent to prison on weapons charges

NORRISTOWN >> A Glenside man faces up to more than a decade in prison after he was found in illegal possession of a handgun during a traffic stop in Abington.

Daniel Stillwell, 24, of the 2300 block of Pleasant Avenue, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 6½ -to-13-years in a state correctional facility after a jury convicted him of charges of firearms not to be carried without a license, persons not to possess a firearm and possession of a small amount of marijuana in connection with a March 2017 incident.

Judge Wendy G. Rothstein also ordered Stillwell to complete five years’ probation following parole, meaning Stillwell will be under court supervision for 18 years.

An investigation began at 10:48 a.m. March 31, 2017, when Abington police on routine patrol observed a Nissan sedan, operated by Stillwell, traveling southbound on Johnston Avenue toward Susquehanna Road during hours when traffic was only permitted to travel north. Based on the infraction, police conducted a traffic stop.

“While speaking with Stillwell through an opened driver’s side window, I smelled an odor of burnt marijuana coming from inside of the vehicle,” Abington Police Officer Daniel B. Prior alleged in the arrest affidavit.

The vehicle was towed to the Abington Township Public Training Center and officers obtained a warrant to search the vehicle.

During the search, police found a Springfield Armory XDS .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun under the driver’s seat and a clear bag containing marijuana in the glove compartment, according to the criminal complaint.

Police alleged the gun was loaded.

“Stillwell is a convicted felon and not to possess a firearm,” Prior alleged in the arrest affidavit.

Police said they also recovered a “butterfly” knife in the center console of the vehicle and a kitchen knife on the floor of the rear passenger’s side seat.

“Stillwell is a convicted felon and not to possess a firearm,” — Abington Police Officer Daniel B. Prior