Man sentenced for drug trafficking in Upper Moreland

NORRISTOWN >> A Philadelphia man faces a decade of court supervision after he admitted to distributing cocaine in the Upper Moreland Township area.

Alvin Clifton Morton, 40, of the 7100 block of North 15th Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 10 years’ probation after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver cocaine, specifically 397.7 grams, in connection with his drug trafficking activities between August 2018 and March 2019.

The sentence was imposed by Judge Todd D. Eisenberg.

The investigation was conducted by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau’s Narcotics Enforcement Team with assistance from the district attorney’s Local Drug Task Force that included officers from Upper Moreland, Upper Dublin and Abington townships, and the Philadelphia Police Narcotics Unit.

The investigation began in August 2018 when detectives received information from confidential sources about persons associated with trafficking cocaine in the Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland areas. Detectives subsequently identified Morton as a suspect in the trafficking, according to court papers.

Confidential sources told detectives Morton utilized his cellphone to facilitate his drug trafficking and “cooks up the crack cocaine in his residence,” according to the criminal complaint filed by county detectives. Informants told detectives they were present in Morton’s Philadelphia apartment and witnessed Morton and his associates “cooking and bagging crack cocaine,” according to the arrest affidavit.

Confidential sources, according to court papers, told detectives they believed Morton was the source of supply for others selling cocaine in the North Hills section of Upper Dublin.

The ensuing investigation involved detectives conducting police-supervised controlled purchases of crack cocaine from Morton. In a criminal complaint, authorities alleged they conducted five controlled crack cocaine purchases from Morton between August 2018 and March 2019 in Upper Moreland and inside or in the vicinity of Morton’s Philadelphia residence.

Detectives subsequently obtained a warrant to search Morton’s apartment and his vehicle on March 21, 2019.

Inside the residence, detectives seized numerous clear, knotted bags containing cocaine hydrochloride and crack cocaine, a digital scale, empty glassine packets commonly used to package drugs and a Kool Aid container with a false bottom equipped with a compartment commonly used to hide contraband, according to the arrest affidavit. The items seized were field tested with a positive reaction for the presence of cocaine hydrochloride or cocaine base (crack cocaine), detectives alleged.

Other charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia will be dismissed against Morton at time of sentencing, according to court papers.

Assistant District Attorney Lindsey Mills prosecuted the case. Defense lawyer Anita Seth represented Morton.