Pottstown man draws prison for two crimes

NORRISTOWN >> A Pottstown man is on his way to state prison for two crimes – trafficking heroin and the unauthorized use of a vehicle that belonged to a man for whom he was a caretaker.

Luke Andrew Lease, 30, of the 300 block of New Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to a total of 1½-to-3-years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of possession with intent to deliver heroin and unauthorized use of an automobile in connection with two incidents that occurred in the borough between August and October 2017.

The sentence was imposed by Judge Steven T. O’Neill as part of a plea agreement.

With the charges, Pottstown police alleged that during the month of August 2017, Lease delivered an amount of packaged heroin to a confidential informant in the borough in exchange for cash. The evidence from the socalled “controlled buy” was tested and the substance was determined to contain heroin, according to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Police Corporal Brian Weitzel.

In the second incident, a King Street resident called police on Oct. 23, 2017, to report that Lease had taken his Toyota Corolla vehicle without permission.

“(The victim) explained that Luke Lease was his caretaker for the past month but that Luke never has had permission to drive the car,” Pottstown Police Officer Timothy Coffland alleged in the arrest affidavit.

The victim told police that he “explicitly” informed Lease he could not take the car. The victim realized later that day that his car keys and car were gone.

Police alleged the car was not returned until Oct. 26 and that the vehicle had damage that was not present before Lease took the car.

Other charges of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and criminal use of a communication facility were dismissed against Lease as part of the plea agreement.