Pottstown man draws prison on drug and gun charges

NORRISTOWN — A Pottstown man is on his way to prison after he admitted to gun and drug charges that were lodged against him after police searched his home.

Justin James Rolle, 41, of the 100 block of Reynolds Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 3½ to 9 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of persons not to possess a firearm and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance in connection with a December 2016 incident in the borough.

Rolle will receive credit for time he spent in jail, while awaiting court action, since Aug. 26, 2022.

Judge Wendy G. Rothstein, who imposed the sentence as part of a plea agreement, said the Glock weapon seized by police during the investigation will be forfeited to county detectives.

The judge recommended that Rolle be housed at the State Correctional Institution at Chester, which offers counseling and treatment programs for drug offenders.

The investigation began in December 2016 when Pottstown police obtained a warrant to search Rolle’s residence. Court papers did not indicate the circumstances that led to police seeking the search warrant.

But on Dec. 22, 2016, police showed up with the search warrant at Rolle’s Reynolds Avenue residence.

“A knock and announce was done and no one answered the door. After breaching the door, Justin Rolle…was found in the master bedroom with the door locked,” Pottstown Police Corporal Stephen Hatfield alleged in the criminal complaint.

During a search of the residence, police seized a Glock 30S .45-caliber handgun in a safe in a closet, a Glock magazine with 12 .45-caliber rounds in a shoebox outside a closet in the master bedroom, numerous individual packaged bags of crack cocaine and methamphetamine, a digital scale, drug packaging materials and $1,390 cash, according to the criminal complaint.

A records check determined the Glock handgun had previously been reported stolen in East Whiteland Township, Chester County. The investigation also determined that Rolle had a previous drug conviction that prohibited him from possessing a firearm, according to the criminal complaint.

Other charges of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, receiving stolen property, possession of drug paraphernalia and conspiracy were dismissed against Rolle as part of the plea agreement. Defense lawyer Eugene Tinari represented Rolle.