An Elizabethtown man will serve up to 20 years in prison for having over 100 Oxycodone pills after police arrested him for a purse-snatching in Lancaster city.
John R. Long, 35, was convicted last month at a non-jury trial of felony possession with intent to deliver, theft, and related counts.
Assistant District Attorney Barry Goldman presented evidence at trial that Long first took a woman’s purse outside Tellus 360 on July 10, 2016, then ran – into a taped-off crime scene on East King Street – where police arrested him.
Police found Long had over 100 Oxycodone pills.
At a recent sentencing hearing in Lancaster County Court, Judge Margaret Miller jailed Long for 9 to 20 years.
Long claimed at trial that he had the pills for personal use and intended to give them back to a relative, who owned them.
At sentencing, Goldman referenced Long’s criminal history which dates to 2003.
Lancaster city police Officer Joel Thomas filed charges.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright