NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man was jailed on drug trafficking charges after an investigation of open-air drug sales near a Norristown transit hub and the county courthouse.
Sean “Shizz” White, 38, of the 500 block of West 52nd Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 6 to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver cocaine in connection with incidents that occurred between January and February 2024.
Judge Thomas M. DelRicci, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered White to complete one year of probation consecutive to parole, meaning White will be under court supervision for about three years.
White, according to court documents, was arrested by county detectives as they focused on the area surrounding the Norristown Transportation Center, just blocks from the county courthouse, where they saw a “high volume of open-air narcotics sales.”
In an attempt to alleviate the problem, the county’s Narcotics Enforcement Team and the Montgomery County Drug Task Force conducted surveillance and so-called “controlled purchases” with the help of confidential informants and undercover police officers “in and around open-air drug markets,” detectives wrote in the arrest affidavit.
A “controlled purchase” occurs when law enforcement officers, with the assistance of a confidential informant, purchase drugs from a target of an investigation in a controlled fashion – meaning that law enforcement takes steps to control the situation as much as possible for investigative purposes.
“During this investigation, Sean White was positively identified as the principal subject of this investigation,” detectives alleged.
Court documents indicate detectives oversaw two controlled purchases involving White on Jan. 29 and Feb. 19, 2024, at locations in the borough. Detectives had the meeting locations under surveillance and observed the drug transactions.
Other charges of possession of controlled substances and possession of drug paraphernalia were dismissed against White as part of the plea agreement.