E-Edition
Sign up for email newsletters
Sign up for email newsletters
E-Edition
TRENDING:
NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man is headed to prison on charges of trafficking fentanyl after a traffic stop by police in Cheltenham Township uncovered the drugs in his vehicle.
Libni Jhosiel Segovia Urtuzuastegui, 28, of the 3800 block of North Marshall Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 6 to 12 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver fentanyl/heroin in connection with a September 2022 incident in the township.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman imposed the sentence as part of a plea agreement.
An investigation began about 1:11 p.m. Sept. 29, 2022, when a state police trooper on routine patrol in the area of Cheltenham Avenue near Georgian Road conducted a traffic stop of a Chevrolet pickup truck operated by Urtuzuastegui, according to court documents.
“During the course of the traffic stop, several observations were made which led me to believe that he was involved in criminal activity,” state police Trooper Justin Hope alleged in the arrest affidavit.
A K-9 certified in drug detection “exhibited alert behaviors to one of and/or a combination of odors that he is trained to detect on an open window on the front passenger’s door of the vehicle,” Hope alleged.
Urtuzuastegui was detained and a warrant to search the truck was obtained by police from a district judge, court papers indicate.
The search uncovered a kilogram of suspected fentanyl and a small bag containing a small amount of a fentanyl/heroin mixture in a duffel bag in the back seat area of the vehicle, police alleged.
During an interview by police, Urtuzuastegui subsequently related he had a kilogram in his truck and four or five additional kilograms at his residence in Philadelphia, according to the criminal complaint.
Court documents indicate police obtained another warrant to search Urtuzuastegui’s residence and there they uncovered $16,941 cash, five kilograms of suspected fentanyl, a jar of suspected marijuana and drug packaging materials, according to the criminal complaint.
Other charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a small amount of marijuana were dismissed against Urtuzuastegui as part of the plea agreement.
Sign up for email newsletters
Copyright © 2023 MediaNews Group
