Man faces jail for Pottstown gun incident

NORRISTOWN >> A judge said a Pottstown man with prior felony convictions should not have possessed a firearm, even if he reportedly was holding it for a friend, and he sent the man to prison.

“This isn’t an ownership issue. This is a possession issue. You don’t have any right to possess that firearm,” Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill addressed Ivan Beneditch on Tuesday. “You’re not allowed to have that gun. You can’t store it. You can’t hold it. You can’t possess it. But you must have thought it was OK.”

O’Neill sentenced Beneditch, 38, most recently of the first block

of Myrtle Street, to 5-to10-years in a state correctional facility on charges of persons not to possess firearms and false identification to law enforcement authorities in connection with a November 2017 incident in the borough. O’Neill convicted Beneditch of the charges during a non-jury trial earlier this year.

Testimony revealed Beneditch had prior convictions for robbery and drug offenses and as a result was not permitted to possess a firearm.

Defense lawyer Frank Flick argued the 9 mm pistol belonged to Beneditch’s friend and Beneditch was keeping the weapon for the friend who didn’t want to take it with him while he went to a nightclub.

“It was for safety. He simply had incidental contact. It was left in a closet. He didn’t carry it. His conduct promoted public safety,” Flick argued as he sought leniency and a mitigated sentence on behalf of Beneditch, a father of two.

But Assistant District Attorney Laura Bradbury argued for the state prison term that was recommended by state sentencing guidelines.

“This is obviously a serious offense. The defendant was in possession of that firearm and firearms are

very dangerous to the protection of society,” Bradbury argued.

O’Neill said state sentencing guidelines didn’t leave him with much discretion and he said he saw no reason to impose a lesser, mitigated sentence as it would depreciate the seriousness of the gun crime.

“It was a conscious choice to hold the gun for a friend. It was your gun for the night. In the world in which you live, having a gun is not a big deal. What is it about guns? I just don’t understand. Those that know they aren’t to have them and still want them. It’s still a mystery,” O’Neill said.

Before leaning his fate, Beneditch said he understood “the gravity of this case.”

“I tried to make better decisions but certain things caught up with me. I just feel I was trapped. I had no intentions of using said weapon. I didn’t understand the dynamics of what was happening. I just tried to do the right thing at that time,” Beneditch said.

A woman who accompanied Beneditch to court wept as the judge announced the lengthy prison term. Beneditch, formerly of the first block of East Second Street, kissed the woman before sheriff’s deputies took him into custody to begin the prison stint.

According to trial testimony and court documents, an investigation began about 10:30 a.m. Nov.

7, 2017, when borough police received a report of an alleged domestic incident at the East Second Street residence and a report that the man involved in the dispute left the scene and was in possession of a firearm.

While heading to the residence, police saw a man on Beech Street who matched the description of the man allegedly involved in the domestic dispute and questioned him. At that time, the man, later determined to be Beneditch, gave police a false name, according to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Police Officer Timothy Coffland.

Beneditch was found to be in possession of a pocket knife but no firearm, court papers indicate.

But when police went to the East Second Street residence and questioned a woman who reported the alleged domestic incident, they found a 9 mm pistol inside a closet of an upstairs bedroom.

Police alleged they also recovered a magazine that contained 23 rounds of 9 mm ammunition.

Originally, Beneditch also faced charges of simple assault and strangulation in connection with the alleged domestic dispute. However, prosecutors did not move forward with those charges during the trial.

The judge acquitted Beneditch of another charge of harassment in connection with the alleged domestic dispute.