POTTSTOWN — Leon Brown had four prior convictions for possession of drugs with intent to deliver when he was arrested on Nov. 19, 2023, and charged with aggravated assault of a police officer.
He was further charged with possession of seven bundles of fentanyl, crack-cocaine, methamphetamines, PCP and marijuana.
Under those circumstances, one might think Brown, 34, would have been held behind bars until his trial.
But the very next day, he was back on the street, his unsecured bail set by a magisterial justice at just $10,000.
Leon Brown (Photo courtesy of Pottstown Police)
Only one month later, police say Brown was involved in a shooting in Apple Alley, and a camera captured him discarding a gun on the grounds of the Pottstown Regional Public Library. According to court records, he fled from police, and after a brief foot chase, he was apprehended again and charged with possession of drugs and a gun he could not legally possess.
Why would a person with such a record, accused of assaulting a police officer, be back on the street so quickly?
Ward 1 Pottstown Councilman Ryan Procsal, who has seen far too many accused defendants return to his neighborhood days after being arrested, wanted to know.
What he found was even more disturbing than he had imagined.
Back on the Street in Days
Brown’s freedom, during which he is accused of undertaking more violent drug crimes, was not the result of a singular judicial mishap but part of a much larger pattern, Procsal found. Suspects with deep criminal backgrounds are routinely being released on unsecured bail and then, all too often, are charged with committing more crimes.
So Procsal made a list; not a comprehensive list, but a pretty unsettling one nonetheless.
Pottstown Ward 1 Councilman Ryan Procsal (Submitted Photo)
The list, produced with the help of the Pottstown Police Department and partially contained in this article, is a compendium of 10 recent cases in which defendants with criminal records — accused of serious, often violent offenses — were back on the streets within days of their arrest.
And all of them are either accused of committing additional crimes while out on bail, or had significant criminal records before being released.
This list of cases accompanied a letter borough council voted unanimously in March to send to Montgomery County President Judge Carolyn T. Carluccio, outlining the problem.
Pottstown Borough Hall (MediaNews Group file Photo)
“All of these cases charged serious felony crimes involving robbery, aggravated assault, child sexual abuse, burglary, firearm possession by a convicted felon and possession of controlled substance with intent to deliver. Nearly all of the defendants had significant prior criminal records,” the letter said.
“Careful and balanced consideration of the nature of the offenses charged and prior criminal records favored substantially higher bail in these cases. Unfortunately, however, the opposite result occurred when the defendants were released on unreasonably low or unsecured bail,” the council’s letter said. “Sadly, in many of these cases, the defendants released on bail went on to commit further felony crimes, violating conditions of their release and further endangering public safety.”
Council members wrote that they “fully support and applaud efforts to reform our criminal justice system to make it more fair and just,” but the price should not be making the community less safe.
“We are striving to make Pottstown a safer and more vibrant place for our residents to live, work and raise their families,” council’s letter said. “The most difficult challenges to improving the quality of life in our community are the persistent levels of gun violence and drug trafficking that continue to plague Pottstown Borough.”
The Case of Trent Thomas
Last August, Trent Thomas was arrested and charged with burglary after he allegedly broke into the Smoke to Go Shop in the 1400 block of East High Street and stole money.
Four days later, a magisterial justice imposed cash bail of $10,000, but the next day Common Pleas Court bail review changed bail to $10,000 unsecured, allowing Thomas to be released the same day. This was even though Thomas, 30, has a prior juvenile conviction for burglary as well as two DUI convictions; three prior drug paraphernalia possession convictions; a drug possession conviction; a simple assault conviction and even a conviction for providing false ID to police.
Thomas Trent (Photo courtesy of Pottstown Police)
Once released, he went on a crime spree, allegedly.
• While released on unsecured bail, Thomas was arrested on Oct. 2, 2024, and charged with receiving stolen property. This time, unsecured bail of $5,000 was imposed, and he was out the same day.
• While out on bail for the previous charges, Thomas was arrested again six months later, on Feb. 15 of this year, and charged with burglary, again, and “theft of secondary metal,” both felonies. The next day, $10,000 bail was imposed, and the same day, Thomas posted the $1,000, or 10 percent, necessary to win his freedom.
• Not done yet, while out on bail in all three previous cases, Thomas was arrested yet again, this time on Feb. 27 and charged with burglary, aggravated assault and robbery, all felonies. Unsecured bail of $50,000 was imposed the next day, and Thomas was released one day after being arrested.
• Finally, on March 12, Thomas was arrested for the fifth time in eight months and charged with “dealing in unlawful proceeds” and seven counts of burglary, all felonies, which were related to burglaries that occurred on Jan. 4, 2025.
This time, finally, a cash bail of $75,000 was imposed. Unable to raise the cash, Thomas remains at the county jail. All his cases were still pending as of June.
‘It’s Really Frustrating’
Needless to say, seeing people you have arrested and charged with serious crimes out on the street the next day is not a terribly affirming experience for a police officer.
“The victims look to the police to lock these defendants up. They don’t always understand that we’re not the ones who let them out,” said Pottstown Police Chief Michael Markovich. “It’s really frustrating for us to see these people back on the street the next day or two after being arrested.”
There are several factors at work here, he explained.
The first is that defendants arrested in Pottstown are no longer brought mostly before the two local magisterial justices, both of whom have been on the bench for several years and are often familiar with many of the repeat offenders. One of the justices, Edward Kropp, is a former Montgomery County detective, and the other, a former Pottstown Police detective who worked with the department’s community response unit.
Pottstown Police Chief Michael Markovich (MediaNews Group File Photo)
Instead, defendants are often now arraigned via video conference while being detained at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Eagleville, by the magisterial justice “on duty.”
Those justices “are often from other parts of Montgomery County. They don’t know Pottstown, they don’t have a sense of who these defendants are, what they’ve done and what they’re capable of,” said Markovich.
After these video arraignments, usually a day later, a judge from the Court of Common Pleas often conducts a “bail review,” which is often when what some consider already low bail can be reduced even further.
“I think we’re really seeing the effects of this procedure more in Pottstown and in Norristown than in the other parts of the county,” Markovich said.
This system was created, Markovich said, as a way to ensure defendants do not spend too much time incarcerated for minor offenses. After all, the Pottstown Police Department only has five jail cells.
The nation has quietly moved away from the mandatory sentencing that came into prominence in the 1980s. And there has been a national movement to reform the cash bail system, which has been seen as a way to keep poor defendants in minor cases who cannot afford high bail out of jail for too long.
“I mean, I understand,” said Markovich. “A guy arrested for having a bag of weed probably doesn’t need to be locked up for six months before his trial.”
“But I think the pendulum may have swung too far in the other direction,” said Markovich, who has been with the Pottstown Police for 26 years, eight of them as chief.
The Case of Sylvester West
It was a few days before Christmas, Dec. 19, 2023, when Sylvester West, 67, walked into the Tompkins VIST Bank in the 200 block of High Street to rob it.
According to the criminal complaint, he “grabbed a bank employee, pointed a gun at her, and demanded money.” As it turned out, the gun was a BB gun, but she didn’t know that.
As he was taken into custody by sheriff’s deputies Sylvester West, who admitted to attempted bank robbery, told a reporter, “I done wrong and you pay your consequences.” (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
One day later, West, who has three prior burglary convictions, two prior robbery convictions and one weapons possession conviction, all in New Jersey, was arrested and charged with the crime.
That same day, Dec. 20, one day after trying to rob the bank, unsecured bail of $50,000 was imposed, and West was released back out onto the street.
Markovich said the bank employee who had been threatened “was devastated” when she learned her assailant, who only lived a few blocks from the bank, was free on bail. After she saw him on the sidewalk in front of the bank one day after the robbery, she quit her job, Markovich said.
One year later to the day, Dec. 19, 2024, West pleaded guilty to attempted bank robbery, a second-degree felony, and was sentenced to two to five years in state prison.
Bail Reform Passes Senate
Pottstown is not the only place that sees a problem with the current bail system.
In March, the Pennsylvania State Senate passed Bill 490, which would restrict allowing bail for defendants “in possession of 10 or more grams of fentanyl, those with a prior record of violence, or those charged with committing specific offenses against law enforcement. The restricted forms of bail would include, but not be limited to, being released on one’s own recognizance or unsecured monetary conditions,” according to the legislation memo.
PA state Sen. Tracy Pennycuick (Courtesy of state Sen. Pennycuick.
Introduced by state Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-37th Dist. from Allegheny County, and co-sponsored by state Sen. Tracey Pennycuick, R-24th Dist., among others, the bill was a reaction to several high-profile Pittsburgh-area cases in which defendants accused of drug crimes or violent crimes, went on to commit additional crimes while out on bail, including the murder of an off-duty state police liquor enforcement officer.
Identical legislation was introduced in the state Senate last year and passed the Senate, but not the state House of Representatives.
This year’s version was supported by all Republicans and eight Democrats, including state Sen. Judy Schwank, D-11th Dist. of Berks County, as well as Marty Flynn, D-22nd Dist. representing parts of Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, Nick Miller, D-14th Dist. representing parts of Lehigh and Northampton counties and Lisa Boscola, D-18th Dist., also representing parts of Lehigh and Northampton counties.
A Different Kind of Bail Reform
The American Civil Liberties Union, on the other hand, wants an entirely different kind of bail reform. That group wants to eliminate it completely.
“Jailing people because they cannot afford to post money bail amounts to wealth-based detention that violates well-established norms of fairness and constitutional principles,” according to the ACLU of Pennsylvania, which has an entire web section devoted to the issue.
Here are some of the points made there.
• Noting that the “presumption of innocence” is a bedrock principle of the American justice system, the group argues “keeping people in jail solely because of their poverty before they have been found guilty of any offense flips this fundamental presumption on its head.”
• “The United States is one of only two nations in the world that use cash bail; the other is the Philippines,” according to the site, which adds, “nationwide, 62% of people held in jail have not been sentenced, the majority of these people, who should be presumed innocent, are held because they cannot pay cash bail.”
• Like in the rest of the nation, the ACLU notes, Pennsylvania has also seen a steep rise in the number of people incarcerated pre-trial.
Pottstown officials are speaking out against low bail being set for defendants with criminal records and repeat offenders.
And then there is the issue of how race colors who gets jailed and how high their bail is set.
• An ACLU analysis of data showed “among Black people accused of a crime, 55.2 percent are assigned cash bail. Among white people accused of a crime, 38.5 percent are assigned cash bail. Black defendants are also assigned higher amounts of bail than their white counterparts. This statewide pattern persists in each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties,” the organization reported.
• “A 2016 report found that in Pennsylvania, across all offenses, Black defendants are more likely to receive a monetary bail decision, especially when charged with a weapons offense; 33 percent of white defendants charged with felony weapons offense were assigned cash bail compared with 78 percent of Black defendants charged with similar offenses,” the ACLU reports.
• Further, “a large study of cash bail in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh found that assigning cash bail to a defendant increases the likelihood of recidivism by 6 to 9%,” according to the ACLU.
• They also argue that being incarcerated before trial muddies the water and increases the likelihood of conviction, all other things being equal. “Another study that looked at Pittsburgh and Philadelphia estimated that the assignment of cash bail caused a 12% rise in the likelihood of conviction,” the ACLU wrote.
The Case of Gary Mastrippolito
Pottstown Police arrested Gary Mastrippolito on Nov. 13, 2024.
While investigating the death of a person who received a “fatal dose of fentanyl from Mastroppolito,” police took over the dead person’s phone and conducted an undercover operation, which resulted in Mastrippolito, 48, delivering packaged fentanyl to police, according to court documents.
He was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, criminal use of a communication facility, and reckless endangerment of another person.
Gary Mastrippolito (Image courtesy Pottstown Police)
Mastrippolito had “19 prior convictions for criminal trespass, reckless endangerment of another person, endangering the welfare of children, theft, receiving stolen property, drug possession, DUI, and patronizing a prostitute,” according to the list accompanying the council’s letter to Carluccio.
On the same day he was arrested, Mastrippolito was released from custody after an unsecured bail of $15,000 was imposed by a magisterial district justice. His case is still pending.
The Judge Responds to Council Concerns
Carluccio, who ran for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2023 and lost, replied to the borough council’s letter on May 28 with a letter of her own.
She told the council her staff had reviewed the case summaries that accompanied their letter, noting she would not dispute any details of any of the cases, but she did offer a few comments.
Montgomery County President Judge Carolyn T. Carluccio (MediaNews Group File Photo)
Carluccio explained that “at each arraignment, the (magisterial district justice) is provided with a risk assessment score, to assist in determining conditions of release or no release. The risk assessment (which is created by the county’s pre-trial services personnel) takes many factors into consideration — including the prior record of the individual.”
“Prior to the creation of our pre-trial services division (in 2020), there were only two options at arraignment: bail or incarceration,” Carluccio wrote. “The creation of pre-trial services provided a third option. We now have the ability to supervise defendants at the pre-trial stage.”
Michael Drossner, Montgomery County’s deputy chief public defender, explained pre-trial services often translate into requirements placed on the defendant out on bail, such as daily, weekly or monthly check-ins, either in person or by phone. It can also include guidance on issues they may be facing in their lives, such as addiction, housing or transportation problems, he said.
The arraignment decisions remain “within the discretion of the magisterial district judge, the risk assessment provides a suggested level of supervision,” although it does not suggest a bail amount. Carluccio added that for all of the case summaries accompanying council’s letter, “all were released on some level (1,2) of pre-trial supervision.”
That said, “pre-trial supervision itself, however, does not guarantee compliance with the goals of bail, which are to ensure the defendant’s appearance for further court proceedings and to safeguard the public from the defendant committing additional crimes. Your letter and summary highlight a concern that the court shares about enforcement mechanisms when a defendant violates the conditions of his or her bail or pre-trial supervision,” Carluccio wrote.
“Such violations are reported to the district attorney’s office, and it is their responsibility to pursue any violation hearings,” Carluccio wrote. “The court is currently revisiting that process to see if we can improve the effectiveness of our enforcement efforts.”
Carluccio pointed out that “at each step of the judicial process, including preliminary arraignment, the DA’s office is present.”
Ultimately, she wrote, “each case is unique and must be processed based on these unique facts.”
Drossner reinforced the fact that, in addition to defense lawyers, who are sometimes from the public defender’s office, prosecutors from the district attorney’s office are present at all bail hearings, and they can argue for higher bail based on things like their criminal record.”
The Case of Ahmir Brown
A robbery of the Walmart led to the Feb. 12, 2025 arrest of Ahmir Brown, 18, on charges of robbery, persons not to possess a firearm, possessing a firearm without a license and receiving stolen property.
Ahmir Brown (Photo courtesy of Pottstown Police)
The criminal complaint reported that Brown had used a stolen 9 millimeter gun loaded with a magazine containing 32 rounds of ammunition.
As a juvenile, Brown had been adjudicated in November 2023 for robbery.
The day after his arrest, Brown was arraigned by a magisterial district justice who set bail at $1,000, which Brown posted. He was released one day after the robbery he is charged with committing. The case is still pending.
Assessing Risk
Prior criminal records, failure to appear in court, severity of the alleged crime; all are part of a risk assessment undertaken, as Carluccio’s letter mentioned, to generate a “risk assessment score,” Drossner explained. This “score” is one of the things presented to the magisterial justice at the arraignment when bail is set.
“But we have to remember, defendants are human beings, not a mathematical equation and everyone’s circumstances are different and bail should not be increased every time someone gets in trouble,” Drossner said.
He said that after bail is set by a magisterial justice, who are all elected officials and are not necessarily practicing lawyers and who may not even have law degrees, it is reviewed the next day by a judge.
As with the arraignment, defense and prosecutors are present and can make arguments in favor of increasing or lowering the bail set the day before.
“Remember, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty and the purpose of bail is to ensure they show up in court, not to incarcerate someone before they have been convicted of a crime in a court of law,” Drossner said.
When defendants out on bail are subsequently accused of other crimes, “obviously, we don’t like to see that,” said Drossner. “It will certainly raise a few eyebrows and likely lead to a consultation with our client and maybe help them deal with whatever issues they may have, such as substance abuse.”
He also said in some of the most egregious cases, it is within the power of the district attorney’s office to revoke bail, “which we view as a pretty extreme measure, but it does happen.”
The Case of Austin Dominick Griffin
Austin Dominick Griffin, 21, was arrested on Feb. 25 and charged with shooting his brother with a BB gun and then stabbing him with a knife multiple times in the ribs and upper back, according to the summary accompanying the borough council’s letter to Carluccio.
Austin Griffin (Photo courtesy of Pottstown Police)
He was charged with aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime and other offenses.
One day after his arrest, the magisterial district justice imposed bail of $50,000, unsecured, which allowed Griffin to be released one day after allegedly shooting and stabbing his brother.
On June 24, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, a first-degree felony, and was sentenced to 6 to 23 months behind bars, followed by five years of probation.
‘It Shakes Confidence in the Neighborhood’
Procsal, who lives on Walnut Street with his wife Athena and their two young sons, said he understands the particulars of the justice system and how it is geared toward individual acts. But it fails to take into account the cumulative effect repeated crime has on his neighborhood, he said.
He has set up numerous cameras around his property and he has stitched together a chilling video compendium of the sounds of gunfire in 10 shooting incidents totaling more than 97 bullets fired over a period of the last three years.
In one dated, Feb. 15, 2023, more than 30 shots were fired in rapid succession and you can hear someone shout, “I’ve been hit.”
“We’ve had two shootings in the last week,” Procsal said Monday.
The first, on July 17, occurred in the 100 block of North Warren Street and resulted in three people being injured by gunshots. The second occurred on Saturday, July 26, just one block from his house on Warren Street.
“And that one happened right in the middle of the day,” he said.
Police now have an arrest warrant out for Wanyea Bailey, who they say kicked in the door of 413 Walnut St. at 11 a.m., entered the house and shot Valencie Watt in the abdomen. In 2014, Bailey pled guilty to burglary and was thus not legally allowed to possess a gun.
Watt underwent two surgeries at Reading Hospital and was still listed in critical condition Tuesday.
A wagon wheel leans against the stoop of 413 Walnut Street where police say a shooting occurred Saturday in broad daylight. (Evan Brandt — MediaNews Group)
No arrests have been made in either case. However, Bailey pled guilty to robbery in 2014 and is thus not legally allowed to have a gun. Either way, Pottstown officials will be keeping an eye out.
“We’re going to monitor the bail decisions made by the county MDJs on serious crimes for the next six months or so before we bring the issue up again with Judge Carluccio,” he wrote in an email to MediaNews Group.
“If the shooters are juveniles, I’ll bet nothing happens to them, unless they kill somebody,” Procsal said. “But a juvenile with a gun is just as dangerous as an adult.”
In addition to whatever danger a repeat offender out on bail may represent to the neighborhood, putting them back into the same place where a crime occurred can also pose danger from those seeking revenge.
“Either way, it can lead to more shooting,” Procsal said.
“I don’t know if a lot of these MDJs from other parts of the county understand how letting people back out on the streets destabilizes and shakes the confidence in the neighborhood. And this is a good neighborhood. I like my neighbors and we don’t deserve to live like this. Nobody deserves to live like this.”