A 27-year-old felon was sentenced on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, to 20 to 40 years in a state correctional institution for dealing drugs and illegally possessing four firearms.
Angel Molina, of Philadelphia, had previously pleaded guilty on May 23 to five counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, four counts of prohibited possession of a firearm, and one count each of criminal conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He appeared before Common Pleas Judge Charissa J. Liller on Wednesday, who sent him to state prison for 20-40 years, followed by 10 years of probation.
Molina was arrested on Aug. 18, 2022, following a controlled narcotics buy of heroin/fentanyl in the parking lot of a Bensalem Township store as part of a joint investigation by Bensalem Township Police Detectives, members of the Bucks/Montgomery County Safe Streets Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigation was based off information of a methamphetamine and heroin ring based out of the Kensington section of Philadelphia.
During the operation, police conducted surveillance in the parking lot and then arrested Molina and Jonathan Vazquez, 30, also of Philadelphia, after the controlled buy.
Police found $2,200 on Molina, and cocaine on Vazquez. Investigators simultaneously executed a search warrant at Molina’s home in Philadelphia, recovering 684 grams of fentanyl, 255 grams of methamphetamine, 41 grams of cocaine. Investigators also seized more than $37,000 in US currency, a rifle with a scope, and three 9-mm handguns, one of them a ghost gun.
Additionally, police seized drug paraphernalia that included containers, baggies, grinders, scales, and a stamp Molina used to mark his brand of drugs.
Prior to sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Thomas Gannon told Judge Liller that Molina’s life consisted of a “decade of drug dealing,” with several prior adjudications and convictions for dealing drugs. He had just been released from prison four months before his August 2022 arrest, Gannon said. “He is motivated by greed,” Gannon said. “He was given many opportunities to be rehabilitated, but at every opportunity, he turns to greed.”
Vazquez, Molina’s co-defendant, previously pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, criminal conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced in July to state prison for 45 to 90 months.
This case was investigated by the Bensalem Township Police Department, the FBI, the Bucks/Montgomery County Safe Streets Task Force, and the Philadelphia Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Thomas C. Gannon.
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