NORRISTOWN — A Norristown man must report to jail later this month after he admitted to unlawfully carrying a firearm in the borough.
Jackie Cooley, 28, of the 1200 block of Washington Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 9 to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of firearms not to be carried without a license in connection with a September 2020 incident in the borough.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, ordered Cooley to report to the jail in Lower Providence on April 19 to begin serving the sentence. The judge said Cooley will be eligible for the jail’s work release program while serving the sentence.
Cooley, who listed a previous address in the 500 block of Janeway Drive, also must complete five years’ probation following parole, meaning he will be under court supervision for about seven years.
An investigation began about 1 p.m. Sept. 5, 2020, when Norristown police were dispatched to a residence in the 300 block of Dartmouth Street for a report of a domestic incident in progress. Residents there told police that Cooley had been involved in a verbal argument with a woman and then left with a gun that had been in the house, according to the criminal complaint filed by Norristown Police Officer Kevin Fritchman.
Police subsequently conducted a traffic stop of Cooley for allegedly driving under suspension in the 500 block of Janeway Drive, according to court papers. During the traffic stop, police asked Cooley if there were any guns in the vehicle.
Cooley turned to his right, leaned back and looked behind the passenger seat but then stated “No,” according to the arrest affidavit. Cooley subsequently consented to a search of the vehicle.
Officer Fritchman “located a rifle case behind the front passenger seat exactly where Cooley looked when asked if there were guns in the vehicle,” according to the criminal complaint. Inside the case, police found a sawed off Winchester shotgun with a serial number which came back as “no record found” and the shotgun “was manipulated causing the barrel to be less than 16 inches in length,” Fritchman alleged.
Police also found three digital scales and 13 clear sandwich-type bags which contained a white substance that field tested positive for cocaine, according to the criminal complaint.
Other charges of prohibited offensive weapons, persons not to possess a firearm, driving under suspension and possession of controlled substances were dismissed against Cooley as part of the plea agreement.
