Methadone Patient Had Illegal Drugs, Carried Gun Without License: Cops

LOWER MORELAND, PA — A Bucks County woman who gets treatment at a local methadone clinic in this eastern Montgomery County community is facing various criminal charges after local police say she possessed illegal drugs and was discovered carrying a gun with no license.

Jacquelyn Richards, 38, of Levittown, Bucks County, was arrested recently by Lower Moreland Township Police and charged with a felony count of firearms not to be carried without a license as well as five separate misdemeanor counts in connection with an incident from late June.

According to a police account, officers were on patrol in the area of the 2800 block of Philmont Avenue when they observed what they termed a 'suspicious' vehicle and 'suspicious' couple who appeared to be cleaning out their vehicle at a local Sunoco.

Officers said they soon learned that Richards had just come from a nearby methadone clinic and that she was found to have a bench warrant attached to her name from a district court in neighboring Bucks County.

Police said they approached Richards and confronted her about the active warrant, and at that time noticed that she appeared to be displaying signs consistent with being under the influence of some sort of substance.

Officers said that they saw a three-to-four-inch cylindrical object protruding from her chest, which was ultimately determined to be a plastic straw containing a white powdery residue.

Richards told offices she used the straw to "snort Vicodin," and she was then placed under arrest, according to police.

Officers then discovered that Richards was carrying, inside her purse, a semi-automatic handgun, but that she did not have a valid license to carry the concealed weapon.

Officers conducted a search and found Richards to also be in possession of a small, pill keychain holder that contained various prescription pills, police stated.

Misdemeanor counts against Richards include various drug-related charges and a public drunkenness charge, according to the court docket sheet in the case.

Court records show that a preliminary hearing was originally scheduled for July 11 but that the proceeding has since been pushed back to Aug. 15 before Magisterial District Court Judge Jay S. Friedenberg.

Records further show that Richards is currently confined at the Montgomery County Correctional Facilty after she failed to post $5,000 unsecured bail.