Pottstown man faces jail on gun charge after traffic stop
NORRISTOWN — A Pottstown man who was found to be in illegal possession of a firearm during a traffic stop by borough police has been sentenced to a stint behind bars.
Nafis Abdul Hawkins, 26, of the unit block of Moser Road, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 111⁄2 to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of carrying a firearm without a license in connection with a March 2024 incident in the borough.
Judge Thomas M. DelRicci, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered Hawkins to complete one year of probation consecutive to parole, meaning Hawkins will be under court supervision for about three years.
The judge ordered that a Glock .40-caliber firearm seized by police during the investigation be forfeited to the district attorney's office for destruction.
The investigation began about 5:37 p.m. March 13, 2024, when Pottstown police working an enforcement detail with the Montgomery County Drug Task Force near Chestnut and North Hanover streets, "a high drug trafficking area," observed a Chrysler 200 sedan with tinted windows, operated by Hawkins, and conducted a traffic stop.
Police detected a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle and Hawkins told police he had smoked marijuana earlier but didn't have any in the vehicle, according to the arrest affidavit.
Police determined that Hawkins' driver's license was suspended. Police asked Hawkins for consent to search the vehicle and he refused.
A drug detection dog from the county sheriff's department was deployed and gave positive indications on the passenger side door of the vehicle, alerting to the presence of narcotic odors, according to the criminal complaint.
Police then impounded the vehicle and obtained a warrant to search it.
During that search, police found a shopping bag containing seven sealed foil bags of marijuana on the driver's side floorboard, a foil bag with marijuana on the rear passenger floorboard, two mobile phones in the center console and the Glock .40-caliber handgun, with an automatic switch and extended magazine loaded with 20 cartridges, in the trunk of the vehicle, according to court papers.
Investigators said a records check determined the gun had been reported stolen out of Philadelphia. Police also determined that Hawkins did not have a permit to carry a firearm.
Other charges of prohibited offensive weapons, possession of and possession with intent to deliver marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, receiving stolen property and criminal use of a communication facility were dismissed against Hawkins as part of the plea agreement.
