NORRISTOWN — A Pottstown man whose stabbing injuries during an incident in Berks County triggered an investigation that resulted in authorities dismantling a multi-county gun trafficking network has admitted to his role in that organization.
James Darell Hiller, 19, of the 600 block of Beech Street, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to felony charges of corrupt organizations, selling or transferring firearms to ineligible persons, criminal use of a communication facility and conspiracy in connection with incidents that occurred between January and July of 2024.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Hiller.
Hiller remains in jail without bail while awaiting his sentencing hearing.
Hiller was one of nine men from Pottstown and Berks County who were arrested in July 2024 and linked to the gun trafficking organization that illegally obtained, manufactured and sold handguns, 3-D printed ghost guns, suppressors and switches.
Hiller is accused of four illegal gun transfers, according to an arrest affidavit.
Hiller is the first of the nine men to plead guilty to charges in connection with the organization. The other eight men are currently scheduled to stand trial in August. That trial is expected to last more than a week.
Assistant District Attorney Robert Joseph Waeltz Jr. is handling the case.
The investigation began on Feb. 1, 2024, when Pottstown police were dispatched to Pottstown Hospital for a stabbing victim. The victim, Hiller, originally told police that after an argument about a small amount of marijuana, he was stabbed in Pottstown. However, investigators determined the stabbing occurred in Birdsboro in Berks County, when Hiller, who was then 18 and not allowed to buy or own a handgun, was attempting to sell an illegal firearm and was stabbed by the unknown buyer, according to court papers.
The investigation into that single firearm sale expanded, revealing more members of the gun trafficking organization and the criminal activities undertaken by the group, according to prosecutors.
The six other Pottstown men accused of roles in the organization and awaiting court action include: Michael Christophe Needling, 28, of the 300 block of East High Street; Keith Michael Chaney, 26, of the unit block of North Charlotte Street; Desmond Tyon Bennett, 32, of the 200 block of King Street; Maleec Darrius Borders, 23, of the 400 block of Lincoln Avenue; Ryan Joseph Stoudt, 25, of the 400 block of Farmington Avenue; and Horace Jay Kieffer, 37, of the 300 block of Rowan Alley.
The two Berks County men accused of roles in the organization and awaiting court action are: Lucas Scott Groff, 28, of the unit block of Red Bud Lane, Earl Township; and Nathanial Antonio Arroyo, 27, of the unit block of Pleasant Grove Road, Robeson Township.
Authorities alleged the gun trafficking organization operated out of a storage unit in the 300 block of Laurel Street in Pottstown and residences where some of the nine defendants lived. Authorities alleged the 3-D items were manufactured at Groff’s residence in Earl Township.
Detectives alleged Groff was the 3-D printing expert.
“The organization specialized in the acquisition and distribution of illegal firearms to their customer base. They used a variety of methods to achieve this objective,” county Detective Drew Marino and Pottstown Detective Michael Damiano alleged in the criminal complaint.
Prosecutors said the members of the corrupt organization acquired and distributed 31 illegal firearms. Guns were purchased at gun stores in eight counties including Montgomery, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Columbia, Lehigh, Wayne and Westmoreland.
At the time of the arrests in July 2024, authorities said 17 of the 31 firearms purchased by the group were recovered, some during searches at the time of the arrests. But others were recovered during investigations of other criminal incidents including a road rage incident in New Hanover.
Detectives used various investigative techniques to bust the organization including analyzing cellphone data, analyzing social media posts, tracking multiple purchases of firearms by some of the defendants through the state’s Electronic Record of Sale system, reviewing copies of state and federal firearms purchase forms at gun stores and surveillance.
The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Violent Crime Unit and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General’s Gun Violence Task Force was assisted during the investigation by the following agencies: Pottstown Police Department; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Pennsylvania State Police; Berks County Detectives; the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Gun Violence Task Force; and numerous other police departments from Upper Merion, New Hanover, Exeter and Robeson townships, and the Borough of Birdsboro.
Source: Berkshire mont
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