Retired Norristown Cop Sentenced to 17-50 in Drug Case

Jack Pennington, a retired Norristown police officer who was convicted of 16 drug-related felonies in July, and who, according to the prosecution, used his old police badge in doing so, was sentenced to 17 to 50 years in jail on Friday in the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, according to The Times Herald.

This July, a jury found Pennington, 68, from Upper Merion, guilty of 16 drug-related felonies regarding the sale of prescription pills and methamphetamines.

A one-time detective sergeant of the Norristown police, Pennington was found guilty of possession with intent to deliver Percocet and three ounces of crystal methamphetamine, as well as delivering a controlled substance. The conviction was in connection with transactions fro the summer of 2012.

Undercover law enforcement arrested him as he was said to have been about to meet his supplier at the Plymouth Meeting Mall in June of 2012.

Said Nathan Schadler, the lead prosecutor in Pennington’s case: “In law enforcement, it’s like a family. Once you’re part of it, you never really leave it. It comes with certain virtues that stay with you for life. And this man cloaked himself with every benefit that being a police officer could afford. He was cloaked in police credentials. Yet this individual continued to enjoy and milk the benefits of a retired police officer.”

Before the sentencing, John I. McMahon, Jr., Pennington’s defense attorney, asked Common Pleas Court judge William R. Carpenter to think about his client’s health  and his past charitable works.

McMahon indicated that he wants to appeal the decision.