LANCASTER, Pa. — A Lancaster County man and convicted felon will serve between 5½ and 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to drug dealing and illegally possessing a firearm.
Jalen Germany, 30, of Marietta, was sentenced by Lancaster County Judge Warren Spahn at a hearing last Friday, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.
The firearms charges stemmed from an incident in 2021, while the drug charges came after an arrest in 2022, prosecutors said.
He entered an open guilty plea on charges of person not to possess a firearm, possession with intent to deliver fentanyl and crack cocaine, DUI, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a small amount of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and four summary driving offenses.
The first incident involving Germany occurred on September 13, 2021, prosecutors said. At about 2:33 p.m., the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force located and arrested Germany at an apartment in the 600 block of North Queen Street in Lancaster for outstanding warrants through the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department for possession with intent to deliver and through East Hempfield Township Police Department for possession of a controlled substance.
Germany ran into a bathroom in the apartment when police knocked on the door, and a subsequent search warrant revealed a .25 caliber Browning Arms Company handgun, fully loaded with one round in the chamber, below the bathroom sink.
The second incident occurred on March 30, 2022, when State Police stopped a vehicle Germany was driving on Williamson Way, just south of Harrisburg Pike, at about 2:06 a.m. The vehicle Germany was driving failed to stay in its lane, prompting the traffic stop.
While processing the vehicle's registration, State Police found the vehicle's registered owner had an active arrest warrant for shoplifting, prosecutors said.
Upon approaching the vehicle, the trooper detected a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle and released the operator of the vehicle was not the registered owner.
Germany identified himself as the operator of the vehicle and a search warrant revealed he was in possession of fentanyl, cocaine, Xanax pills and marijuana, prosecutors said.
Assistant District Attorney Christine Wilson prosecuted the cases. Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Nicholas Ciatto and Lancaster City Bureau of Police Detective Ryan Burgett filed charges.
