District Court Roundup: Charge Dismissed in Drug Dealing Case

Charge Dismissed, Another to Be Withdrawn in Drug Case

Following a preliminary hearing for Aqil Ford-Bey, 28, of Phoenixville, one charge was dismissed and another will be withdrawn.

During the hearing, Officer Sean Knapp of the Phoenixville Police Department recounted approaching a vehicle that he pulled over on Aug. 21 at approximately 2:30 a.m.  Knapp testified that he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle, which was in the 200 block of Bridge Street.

After he pulled the car over in the unit block of South Main Street, he approached the car and saw the driver, identified as Ford-Bey, “frantically” trying to shove a Ralph Lauren bag into the center console, Knapp testified.

When the bag was searched, Knapp said it yielded a one-pound freezer bag containing a substance that field-tested positive for marijuana, eight pill bottles with approximately 250 pills, a gross of red zip-top bags, a gross of blue zip-top bags and a sandwich bag containing a white powdery substance “just under a baseball size” that field-tested positive for cocaine.

The lab results were not back on what the pills were, and Knapp testified that four bottles were labeled with Ford-Bey’s name, three were not labeled and one was labeled with a female’s name. The bag also contained $1,405 in cash and two cell phones, according to Knapp.

Additionally, the center console contained a still smoldering marijuana blunt, according to Knapp’s testimony.

Ford-Bey was charged with a felony count of possession of drugs with intent to deliver, a felony count of criminal use of a communications facility and five misdemeanor drug charges.

District Judge Theodore Michaels dismissed a misdemeanor drug charge in the case, and the felony criminal use of a communication facility charge will be withdrawn. Ford-Bey’s attorney, Tariq Karim El-Shabazz, told the court that all of the items allegedly found on Ford-Bey weren’t necessarily indicative of his intent to deliver.

“The items can be possessed by someone who has it for personal use,” El-Shabazz said.

Knapp stated during his testimony that in his expert opinion, the items found indicated that the charge of possession with intent to deliver was warranted.

Due to the changes in the charges, bail was reduced to 10 percent of $50,000 instead of $50,000 cash. Bail was posted Sept. 2. A formal arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 15.

Charge Dismissed in Alleged False Robbery Report

Judge Michaels dismissed a misdemeanor charge of false swearing against Jeffrey Famous, 18, of Phoenixville, and held the other eight charges against him for county court.

According to testimony by Officer Christopher Bucci and a juvenile male, Famous allegedly told police that he was robbed by another juvenile, and that the accused juvenile indicated he had a gun. The accused juvenile was arrested and later released after police determined Famous’ story to be false, according to the testimony.

The juvenile witness testified that Famous made up a story about being robbed of $229 while Famous was driving around town. The truth, the juvenile testified, was that the juvenile passenger took marijuana, not cash, from Famous.

Following the alleged marijuana theft, the juvenile witness said Famous then went back to his home and retrieved a BB gun that looks like a real pistol. Famous, according to the testimony, then found the juvenile who reportedly stole the marijuana and waved the gun at him from his car.

Famous was charged with filing a false report, two counts of corruption of minors, possessing an instrument of crime, terroristic threats, simple assault, false swearing, making unsworn falsification to authorities and making a statement under penalty of law. The false swearing charge was dismissed and Famous was told to continue to have no contact with the victim.

A formal arraignment is set for Sept. 22, and Famous is free on $25,000 unsecured bail.