NORRISTOWN — A former Skippack Township man is headed to jail after Lower Providence Township police found him illegally carrying firearms during a traffic-related investigation.
Timothy Louis O’Neill, 46, formerly of the 3500 block of Skippack Pike, most recently of Philadelphia, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 9 to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of carrying a firearm without a license in connection with a November 2023 incident in Lower Providence.
Judge Wendy G. Rothstein also ordered O’Neill to complete 12 months of probation consecutive to parole, meaning O’Neill will be under court supervision for about three years. O’Neill is eligible for the jail’s work release program.
The judge ordered O’Neill to forfeit the firearms that were seized to the district attorney’s office for destruction.
An investigation began about 12:19 a.m. Nov. 11, 2023, when Lower Providence police responded to the area of East Mount Kirk Avenue and Walker Lane for a report of a male slumped over behind the steering wheel of a suspicious vehicle at that location, according to court documents.
Arriving officers found O’Neill in the driver’s seat of a Chevrolet Silverado parked at the stop sign at the intersection. Police observed a crack pipe, in plain view, in the center console of the vehicle and O’Neill admitted “to smoking crack last night,” Lower Providence Police Officer Devon Auge alleged in the criminal complaint.
During questioning, O’Neill gave police consent to search the vehicle.
That search uncovered a crack pipe, a Glock 43 9mm handgun, three magazines, 18 9mm full metal jacket pistol rounds and a Diamondback Arms .223 Remington NATO rifle, according to the arrest affidavit.
“Both firearms were located on the back seat of the Chevrolet and were within immediate reach of Timothy,” Auge alleged. “Timothy said he does not have a license to carry.”
Two counts of possessing drug paraphernalia were dismissed against O’Neill in exchange for his guilty plea to the most serious felony gun charge.
