NORRISTOWN >> A Pottstown man is on his way to state prison after he admitted to illegally possessing a handgun in the borough.
Eriq Miller, 25, of the first block of West Fourth Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to five to 10 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of person not to possess a firearm in connection with a December 2016 incident. Judge Steven T. O’Neill imposed the punishment as part of a plea agreement.
Miller will receive credit for the time he’s been in jail since his arrest on Dec. 16.
An investigation of Miller began on Dec. 11 when a North Evans Street resident reported to borough police that a .22-caliber Ruger revolver was missing from a gun case in the home, according to a criminal complaint.
The investigation determined that Miller had visited the residence the day before the gun went missing, according to the arrest affidavit filed by Pottstown Police Officer John Schmalbach.
When police ran a criminal history check for Miller they determined he admitted to and was adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court in connection with a 2008 robbery in the borough, which prohibited him from possessing a firearm, according to court documents.
Police also alleged Miller did not have a permit to carry a firearm.
Other charges of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property were dismissed against Miller as part of the plea agreement.
But the judge also ordered Miller to pay the onetime owner of the missing gun $640 in restitution.
