Douglass (Mont.) man sentenced for drug trafficking in Pottstown
NORRISTOWN >> A Douglass (Mont.) man has admitted to his role in a drug trafficking scheme that authorities alleged utilized Pottstown hotels and he faces several years of court supervision.
James Urban, 27, of the 100 block of Miller Road, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 11½ to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver fentanyl in connection with a November 2020 incident in Pottstown.
Judge Cheryl L. Austin, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered Urban to complete three years’ probation consecutive to parole, meaning Urban will be under court supervision for a total of five years. The judge added that Urban will receive credit for time he spent in jail since Nov. 7, 2020, and he is eligible for early parole but only if it’s directly to an inpatient treatment program.
Urban’s alleged co-conspirator, David Joseph Langevin-Harlin, 22, of Pottstown, was sentenced in April to 6 to 23 months in the county jail, to be followed by four years’ probation, after he pleaded guilty to a drug-related charge. Langevin-Harlin also was made eligible for parole directly to an inpatient treatment program for addict supervision, according to sentencing documents.
The joint investigation of the men by county and Pottstown detectives began in October 2020 when authorities received information regarding the drug trafficking activities of Urban and Langevin-Harlin, according to a criminal complaint.
“The information received indicated that Langevin and Urban were utilizing hotels in the Pottstown area as narcotics base of operation,” detectives wrote in the arrest affidavit.
The investigation, according to court papers, involved interviews of confidential informants, physical surveillance, controlled drug buys and the service of search and seizure warrants. Multiple surveillance officers were able to positively identify LangevinHarlin and Urban at the locations where the controlled drug buys played out, according to the arrest affidavit.
Detectives also followed Langevin-Harlin and Urban to the America’s Best Value Inn on East High Street in Pottstown on Nov. 6, 2020, where they observed Urban enter one of the rooms, court papers indicated.
When detectives searched the room linked to the two men they found a tackle box filled with a large collection of drug packaging materials, an amount of methamphetamine, “blue wax bags with various stamps which contained heroin/fentanyl and a black digital scale which contained methamphetamine residue,” according to the criminal complaint.
During an interview by detectives, Urban allegedly claimed he sold small quantities of drugs to one customer, “however, during a consent search of his cellular telephone, your affiants uncovered evidence which shows James Urban sells to numerous narcotics customers,” detectives wrote in court documents.
“Evidence from the phone proved that James Urban sells methamphetamine and heroin/fentanyl, as well as counterfeit drugs,” detectives alleged in court papers.
Langevin-Harlin, during an interview by detectives, allegedly admitted to selling quantities of methamphetamine. During a search of his cellphone, detectives recovered evidence that corroborated his statement, “specifically various messages to potential narcotics customers which indicate his prices for quantities of methamphetamine,” detectives alleged.