NORRISTOWN, PA — The East Norriton man and convicted drug trafficker who hid massive amounts of heroin in car batteries was sentenced to 40 to 80 years in state prison on Wednesday, officials announced. The sentence represents one of the longest sentences for a drug-related crime in Montgomery County history, according to the District Attorney's Office.

David Pacheco, 46, who owned D&J Towing in Norristown, was convicted in August on nine counts of possession with intent to deliver, criminal conspiracy, and several related charges.

In handing down Pacheco's sentence Wednesday, Judge Garrett Page pointed to the street value of the 27 kilos of heroin which Pacheco trafficked as $8.9 million.

"(He) ended up in a very bad situation, for greed," Page said.

That heroin is in addition to the more than $1 million worth of heroin found on him when he was arrested in January of 2016.

Pacheco's arrest was the culmination of a nine-month investigation between several different agencies throughout the region.

"We severed an artery with this arrest and conviction of Pacheco," DA Kevin Steele said. "Judge Page sent a clear message today to heroin dealers thinking about peddling their poison in Montgomery County. If you are convicted, you are going away for decades."

The "Operation EverStart" investigation and surveillance of Pacheco, headed up by Montgomery County Detectives, revealed a criminal conspiracy to acquire, transport, store and distribute heroin in the United States and Montgomery County, the DA said.

Since April 2015, Pacheco was identified as a primary subject in the investigation, and since September 2015, detectives documented at least nine trips made by Pacheco to service wholesale heroin buyers in New York City, the DA said.

The investigation revealed that each time Pacheco drove to Atlanta, he received kilos of heroin in retrofitted, working car batteries, which he drove to Montgomery County, then to the Bronx, N.Y.

Upon being paid for the heroin in New York City, he would return to Georgia with the cash.

Pacheco's deliveries of heroin occurred between mid-September 2015 and January 10, 2016 when he was arrested at the King of Prussia toll plaza of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

DA Steele was joined by Assistant DA's Robert Kolansky and Kelly Lloyd in prosecuting the case.

Images via Montgomery County DA's Office

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