Philadelphia man sent to prison for illegal gun possession

NORRISTOWN >> A Philadelphia man arrested during an investigation of a multistate methamphetamine trafficking ring in Southeastern Pennsylvania is headed to prison after he admitted to illegally possessing firearms.

Albert Wilson, 28, of the 6400 block of Clearview Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 6 to 12 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of persons not to possess firearms in connection with incidents that occurred in 2021.

Judge Virgil B. Walker imposed the sentence.

“He’s admitting that he was in possession of two firearms and he’s prohibited from possessing them because of a prior conviction,” said Assistant District Attorney Allison Ruth, explaining the nature of Wilson’s guilty plea.

During a sentencing hearing, Ruth argued for a significant sentence, specifically 7½ to 15 years in prison, for Wilson.

“He was someone who for the protection of the community we felt needed to be incarcerated for a significant amount of time,” Ruth explained.

According to court records, Wilson previously pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a prohibited firearm in 2018 in Philadelphia court and was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in jail, followed by three years’ probation. As a result of that conviction Wilson was prohibited from possessing firearms.

Wilson was among numerous individuals arrested in March 2022 during the investigation of a multi-state crystal methamphetamine trafficking organization that sought to put hundreds of pounds of the addictive drug on the streets of Montgomery County and surrounding areas. Authorities alleged the drug trafficking organization flooded Southeastern Pennsylvania and beyond with methamphetamine, which was shipped from Los Angeles to the leaders of the group in the Philadelphia suburbs between 2019 and 2022.

It was during the investigation of the drug organization that detectives discovered Wilson, who knew others involved in the drug organization, illegally possessed weapons, according to prosecutors.

Charges of corrupt organizations, possession with intent to deliver controlled substances, possession of controlled substances, criminal use of a communication facility, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, possession of drug paraphernalia and conspiracy ultimately were dismissed against Wilson in exchange for his admission only to the gun charges.

Defense lawyer Illon Ross Fish represented Wilson during the Montgomery County Court proceedings.

Numerous other individuals previously pleaded guilty and are serving state prison terms for their roles in the methamphetamine trafficking organization.

The 83 pounds of crystal methamphetamine that was seized during the investigation, if sold as single doses on the street, was worth between $2.6 million and $3.7 million, detectives alleged.

The investigation involved interviews, the strategic use of confidential informants, controlled drug buys, physical surveillance, search warrants, electronic surveillance, GPS tracking, cellphone data analysis and court ordered wiretaps.