Man sent to prison on gun, drug charges

NORRISTOWN >> The seizure of drugs and a gun from a Chester County man in Upper Merion has landed the man behind state prison bars.

Chamon Antwain Melvin, 34, of the 200 block of Church Street, Coatesville, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 4½ -to12-years in a state correctional facility on charges of person not to possess a firearm, possession of cocaine or marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia in connection with a May 2018 incident that occurred along American Avenue in Upper Merion.

The sentence was imposed by Judge William R. Carpenter who convicted Melvin of the charges during a non-jury trial last December.

An investigation of Melvin began in April 2018, when Upper Merion police received a tip from a confidential source that Melvin was involved in criminal activity in the area, according to a criminal complaint filed by Upper Merion Detective Michael Laverty. A background check revealed Melvin was wanted by the Chester County Sheriff’s Office and by a sheriff’s department in Texas on warrants for alleged probation violations, according to the criminal complaint.

On May 23, Upper Merion detectives observed Melvin in his vehicle in the parking lot of a hotel located in the 400 block of

American Avenue.

“Knowing Melvin was a wanted person, police approached Melvin’s vehicle and took him into custody. At the time of his arrest, Melvin was in possession of a .40-caliber Glock 22 which was tucked in the back of Melvin’s waistband,” Laverty alleged in the arrest affidavit, adding it was determined the gun was reported stolen from a vehicle in Upper Merion in April 2016.

Melvin also was in possession of $1,172 cash.

Police also detected an odor of marijuana emanating from Melvin’s vehicle. A deputy from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department and his K9 conducted a search of the vehicle and K9 “Behr indicated for drugs on the center console of the vehicle,” Laverty alleged.

A search of the vehicle uncovered two clear bags of cocaine, weighing about 14 grams each, and a sandwich-type bag of marijuana, weighing about 28 grams, according to the criminal complaint.

Investigators also found drug paraphernalia that included Latex gloves and unused clear bags commonly used to package drugs, court documents alleged.