Pottstown man sent to prison on gun and drug charges
NORRISTOWN — A Pottstown man, who in August 2021 saw homicide charges dismissed against him by a judge, learned from that same judge on Thursday that he will spend up to 15 years in prison on drug and weapons charges in connection with incidents that occurred in the borough in October 2021.
Elijah Davis, 22, of the 300 block of Spruce Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 6 to 15 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of possession with intent to deliver fentanyl, conspiracy to deliver controlled substances, firearms not to be carried without a license and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number in connection with incidents that occurred during the month of October 2021.
“You are still a young man. You still have a chance to turn things around,” Judge William R. Carpenter addressed Davis as he imposed the sentence and advised Davis to carefully weigh who he associates with when he’s released from prison.
“Yeah,” Davis replied.
The sentence was part of an agreement reached between Assistant District Attorney Gabrielle Hughes and defense lawyer Abraham A. Hobson III.
Hughes sought consecutive prison terms for the distinct crimes of drug trafficking and possessing the weapon.
“There’s a different danger to the community presented by peddling a deadly drug such as fentanyl and carrying a firearm to accomplish that, and specifically, a firearm with an altered serial number so it can’t be traced. Certainly, a significant state sentence is warranted when both of those things are present,” Hughes said.
With the charges, prosecutors alleged Davis possessed more than 25 grams of fentanyl.
“Oftentimes, when we see dangerous drugs such as fentanyl in bulk quantities such as this, you’ll see that they have guns to protect that product and that’s what we saw here. He had a gun with an altered serial number in his home. He also possessed a firearm that he concealed in his vehicle and he didn’t have a license to carry,” Hughes alleged.
With the gun and drug charges, authorities alleged they conducted four controlled purchases of heroin/fentanyl from Davis in the borough in October 2021. Based on those drug buys, detectives obtained warrants to search Davis and his Spruce Street residence on Oct. 22, 2021, according to a criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Detective Michael Breslin and county Detective Andrew Rook.
During the search of the home, detectives seized about 28 grams of fentanyl as well as four digital scales, drug packaging materials, $7,607 cash and a loaded Raven Arms .25-caliber handgun with an obliterated serial number, according to the criminal complaint.
That same day, Davis was apprehended in a vehicle on the parking lot of the Walmart located on Shoemaker Road in Pottstown where authorities found him possessing two bundles of heroin/fentanyl. During the search of the vehicle, detectives seized a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun in the glovebox, according to court documents. Detectives said Davis did not have a permit to carry the concealed weapon.
In court documents, detectives said drug traffickers commonly possess firearms which they use to protect and secure their property.
“The courts have recognized weapons are tools of narcotics traffickers’ trade and it is reasonably foreseeable conspirators involved in a large-scale narcotics conspiracy will carry, possess and use weapons,” Breslin and Rook wrote in the criminal complaint.
Authorities said Davis committed the drug and gun offenses less than three months after homicide charges were dismissed against him and he was released from jail.
Carpenter is the same judge who in August 2021 dismissed charges of first- and third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, receiving stolen property and possessing an instrument of crime against Davis, who had been accused of conspiring with three other men in connection with the March 30, 2019, gunshot slaying of Keith “Nas” Robinson, 41, as Robinson sat in the driver’s seat of his car in the 100 block of York Street.
At that time, Carpenter ruled prosecutors “failed to establish” sufficient evidence to proceed to trial on the homicide charges lodged against Davis.
Three other borough men, Jaquan Marquis “Swizz” Lee, 28, Derrick Goins, 28, and Kyshan Scott Brinkley, 26, alleged members of a home-grown gang known as “Bud Gang Bitch” or BGB, subsequently were convicted during a January 2022 jury trial of first-degree murder and were sentenced to mandatory life prison terms in connection with taking part in the gunshot slaying of Robinson, a rival drug dealer.
During pretrial hearings for Davis on the homicide charges, defense lawyer Dennis P. Caglia had argued there was no evidence that Davis was a member of BGB, no videos linking Davis to known BGB members and no gun evidence against Davis. Additionally, Caglia said there was no DNA or fingerprint evidence to link Davis to Robinson’s slaying.
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