A Reading man who was wanted on a parole violation warrant was apprehended in a city apartment where crack cocaine, marijuana and drug-packaging materials were found on the dining table.
Emil DeJesus-Cordova, 24, was charged with possessing and intending to deliver controlled substances and possessing a firearm while prohibited. A revolver was found concealed in the trunk of one of his cars, investigators said.
Although officials didn’t specify the violation, court records indicate that DeJesus-Cordova, who was on probation for fleeing police in Muhlenberg Township in 2023, was recently charged by Laureldale police with robbery. Police said he took an ex-girlfriend’s cellphone by force on Dec. 23.
DeJesus-Cordova was committed to Berks County Jail in lieu of a total of $300,000 bail following arraignment Friday night before District Judge Sandra L. Fegley in Reading Central Court.
In addition to robbery in the Muhlenberg Township case, he was charged with possessing a firearm while prohibited, possessing and intending to deliver illegal narcotics, and possessing drug paraphernalia.
Reading police provided this account in court records:
On Friday about 6:30 p.m., city police were detailed to a unit in an apartment building in the 2000 block of Lorraine Road at the request of a Berks County parole officer.
Upon arrival, Dejesus-Cordova was seated in handcuffs at the dining table. On the table were drugs and paraphernalia that the probation officer saw when they entered the apartment in search of Dejesus-Cordova: cigarette rolling papers, a mechanical grinder, small plastic pop-top vials containing crack cocaine, and a large quantity of drug-packing materials.
Next to the table was a bucket containing used and unused pop-top vials and two sandwich bags — one containing marijuana and one containing crack.
​Dejesus-Cordova was found in possession of car keys to two vehicles parked outside the building. A search of one of the vehicles revealed a replica airsoft gun. A revolver along with Dejesus-Cordova’s Social Security card were found in the spare-tire compartment of the trunk of the other vehicle.