NORRISTOWN — A Delaware County man will head to jail in May after he admitted to illegally possessing a firearm in Pottstown, a crime uncovered when investigators reviewed photographs and videos on the man’s cellphone.
Reuben A. Reeves, 31, of the 300 block of Sloan Street, Ridley Park, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 11½ to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of person not to possess or use a firearm in connection with incidents that occurred in 2022.
Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, ordered Reeves to report to the jail in Lower Providence on May 28 to begin serving the sentence.
Reeves also must complete three years’ probation consecutive to parole, meaning Reeves will be under court supervision for about five years.
Court documents indicate that an investigation began in January 2022 when Reeves had contact with police in an unrelated matter and gave police consent to download the contents of his cellphone.
“In the course of checking the download, it was discovered that there were multiple photographs and videos of Reeves holding firearms. These videos and photographs were created in October of 2021,” Pottstown Detective Michael Glauner wrote in the arrest affidavit.
Detectives alleged a weapon depicted in an Oct. 16 video, a Taurus 9mm handgun, had been purchased in November 2020 by a female, who was known to police.
“Through other photographs and videos of tattoos on the arms of Reeves, it was determined that Reeves is the person holding the Taurus firearm in the video,” Glauner alleged.
Detectives located a second video dated Oct. 16 “where you see Reeves’ face and he is holding a firearm similar to the Taurus but with an extended magazine,” according to the arrest affidavit.
The videos had GPS coordinates attached to them and detectives pinpointed an address in the 300 block of Chestnut Street in Pottstown. Detectives subsequently confirmed that Reeves stayed at the Chestnut Street residence between October and December 2021, according to the criminal complaint.
With the charge, detectives alleged Reeves had a prior criminal record that prohibited him from possessing a firearm.
