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NORRISTOWN — A Pottstown man whose stabbing injuries during an incident in Berks County triggered an investigation that resulted in authorities dismantling a multi-county gun trafficking network will be under court supervision for several years for his role in the organization.
James Darell Hiller, 20, of the 600 block of Beech Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 11½ to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of corrupt organizations, selling or transferring firearms to ineligible persons, criminal use of a communication facility and conspiracy in connection with incidents that occurred between January and July 2024.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman also ordered Hiller to complete two years of probation consecutive to his parole, meaning he will be under court supervision for about four years.
With credit for about 16 months already served in jail while awaiting court action, Hiller was expected to be immediately released from jail.
“Gun trafficking is a very serious offense and it’s a dangerous offense. I believe you understand the dangers of this kind of conduct,” Ferman addressed Hiller, who was stabbed while attempting to sell an illegal firearm.
Hiller was one of nine men from Pottstown and Berks County who were arrested in July 2024 and linked to the gun trafficking organization that illegally obtained, manufactured and sold handguns, 3-D printed ghost guns, suppressors and switches.
Hiller was accused of four illegal gun transfers.
When Hiller pleaded guilty in March, prosecutors had agreed not to seek potential 5-year mandatory sentences available for three of the illegal gun transfers to which Hiller admitted if he testified truthfully at the trial of two other Pottstown men involved in the illegal gun activity.
Hiller did testify for prosecutors three weeks ago during the trial of Keith Michael Chaney, 26, of the unit block of North Charlotte Street, and Desmond Tyon Bennett, 32, of the 200 block of King Street, who were convicted by a jury of multiple charges including unlawful sale or transfer of firearms, conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with the gun trafficking organization. Chaney and Bennett remain in the county jail while awaiting sentencing hearings later this year.
“We believe he testified truthfully,” Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Alane McLaughlin, referring to Hiller, advised Ferman who presided over the trial for Chaney and Bennett and also observed Hiller’s testimony.
Ferman determined a sentence in the standard range of state sentencing guidelines was appropriate given Hiller’s cooperation. Still, Ferman said she had some concerns.
“Your fascination with firearms makes me nervous for you. I question if you will be able to stay away from that, but you must,” said Ferman, warning Hiller that if he violates his sentence he faces significant prison time. “You have tremendous potential to live a wonderful life if you make the right choices.”
Hiller addressed the judge before the sentence was imposed, saying he takes responsibility for his role in the organization and is sorry for his conduct.
“I don’t ever want to go back and make the same mistakes. I want to learn from my mistakes and make better decisions. I’m young and I know I have potential. I’m a smart young man, I could do better with my life,” Hiller addressed the judge.
“I should have not been playing with guns in the first place. It’s a good thing nobody got hurt. I want to apologize to the community. I just would like to be a man, put this in the past and go on to a better and brighter future and make my mother proud,” Hiller added.
McLaughin, who handled the case with co-prosecutor Robert Joseph Waeltz Jr., said Hiller is an intelligent young man.
“I would hope that when you get out you use that for good,” McLaughlin addressed Hiller, urging him to make good choices in the future.
Defense lawyer Gregory DiPippo, based on recommended state sentencing guidelines, argued for a time served sentence for Hiller, asking the judge to consider Hiller’s acceptance of responsibility and his level of cooperation with law enforcement.
“He accepted responsibility right away. He was the first person to plead guilty. He doesn’t make excuses for his conduct. There is substantial mitigation,” DiPippo argued. “He has matured.”
DiPippo said Hiller completed multiple counseling and re-entry programs at the jail and wants to continue his education and be a productive member of the community.
Chaney and Bennett are the only defendants to take their chances before a jury. Hiller and seven others linked to the gun trafficking ring previously pleaded guilty or entered no contest pleas to various charges.
Two others also testified against Chaney and Bennett during their joint trial.
The investigation began on Feb. 1, 2024, when Pottstown police were dispatched to Pottstown Hospital for a stabbing victim. The victim, Hiller, originally told police that after an argument about a small amount of marijuana, he was stabbed in Pottstown.
However, investigators determined the stabbing occurred in Birdsboro in Berks County, when Hiller, who was then 18 and not allowed to buy or own a handgun, was attempting to sell an illegal firearm and was stabbed by the unknown buyer, according to court papers.
The investigation into that single firearm sale expanded, revealing more members of the gun trafficking organization and the criminal activities undertaken by the group, according to prosecutors.
Authorities alleged the gun trafficking organization operated out of a storage unit in the 300 block of Laurel Street in Pottstown and residences where some of the defendants lived and manufactured the 3-D items at a residence in Earl Township.
“The organization specialized in the acquisition and distribution of illegal firearms to their customer base. They used a variety of methods to achieve this objective,” county Detective Drew Marino and Pottstown Detective Michael Damiano wrote in the criminal complaint.
Prosecutors said the members of the corrupt organization acquired and distributed 31 illegal firearms. Guns were purchased at gun stores in eight counties including Montgomery, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Columbia, Lehigh, Wayne and Westmoreland.
At the time of the arrests, authorities said 17 of the 31 firearms purchased by the group were recovered, some during searches at the time of the arrests. But others were recovered during investigations of other criminal incidents including a road rage incident in New Hanover.
Detectives used various investigative techniques to bust the organization including analyzing cellphone data, analyzing social media posts, tracking multiple purchases of firearms by some of the defendants through the state’s Electronic Record of Sale system, reviewing copies of state and federal firearms purchase forms at gun stores and surveillance.
The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Violent Crime Unit and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General’s Gun Violence Task Force was assisted during the investigation by the following agencies: Pottstown Police Department; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Pennsylvania State Police; Berks County Detectives; the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Gun Violence Task Force; and numerous other police departments from Upper Merion, New Hanover, Exeter and Robeson townships, and the Borough of Birdsboro.