Hide Article Text (OCR)
By MATT COUGHLIN and MARGARET GIBBONS STAFF WRITERS First, Raymond Horsch, 69, was busted in 2009 with 455 marijuana plants inside his New Britain Township home. Now his son, Eugene A. Horsch, 31, of Philadel phia, is charged with deal ing marijuana and police say they found more than 200 plants in his home. The younger Horsch came to the attention of Cheltenham police after a routine traffic stop of a vehicle for a moving viola tion on March 5. Following up on that, police searched Eugene Horsch’s Philadel phia home and found more than 200 marijuana plants. His father, Raymond Horsch, is still serving time in federal prison after plead ing guilty in 2011 to grow ing 455 marijuana plants in his New Britain Township home. Authorities expect to release him from federal prison this summer. Eugene Horsch was a passenger in a car that was stopped by Cheltenham police about 8:45 p.m. at Ogontz Avenue and Shop pers Lane in the Wyncote section of the township. During the traffic stop, the patrol officer detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle, sips to p olice got permission from the driver, searched the vehicle and found a large quantity of marijuana in a plastic bag in the back seat, authorities said. Horsch told authori ties that the approximate 1 1.6 pounds of pot belonged to him and that he was on his way to make a delivery, according to the complaint. While it was a routine stop that led to Eugene Horsch’s arrest earlier this month, there was nothing routine about the events that led to his father’s arrest. The elder Horsch was allowing a hooker to live with him for a few weeks in July 2009 in exchange for allowing him to take nude photographs of her. On July 22 of that year, she was in the home alone when she heard what she thought was a bur glar. She called 911 and when officers arrived, they found a large-scale marijuana-grow ing operation. In addition to the marijuana and grow ing equipment, when police later searched the home they found bondage devices, bondage pornography, 25 pounds of black gunpowder and numerous firearms. In an unrelated case, Raymond Horsch was con victed of attempting to lure a 9-year-old Philadelphia girl into his car in 2010. Like his father, Eugene Horsch is no stranger to police, having previously pleaded guilty to possession of a small amount of mari juana in one case and drug paraphernalia in another. However, this latest arrest involves a lot more than a small amount of marijuana. In addition to the 1.6 pounds police found in a plastic bag in the car, they also found a collapsible baton, similar to one issued to some police officers, according to the complaint. He also admitted to owning a canvas bag that was sit ting next to the plastic bag of marijuana, police said. In that, police found a vapor izer with two loaded car tridges of suspected hash oil, a vial of suspected hash oil, 20 bags of suspected heroin and drug paraphernalia such as a razor blade, according to the complaint. Realizing that Horsch lived in Philadelphia, Cheltenham police con tacted their city counter parts who then secured a search warrant for Horsch’s Olney residence, accord ing to Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Nathan Schadler. Police found an “intricate and extensive grow opera tion” of more than 200 mari juana plants “that would make any flower show envi ous,” said Schadler, who heads the county’s narcotics prosecution unit. Schadler said he has been advised that the pot plants that city police seized would have had a street value of almost $2 million. Horsch is being held in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on $75,000 bail on felony and misdemeanor drug posses sion charges, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of an offensive weapon — the baton. Margaret Gibbons: 610-279- 6153; mgibbons @ phillyburbs. com; Twitter, @peggibbons Matt Coughlin: 215-345-3147; mcoughlin @ phillyburbs.com;
Newspaper Details
Bucks County Courier Times
Levittown, Pennsylvania, US
Sun, Mar 10, 2013
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Max M.
USA 21 Sep 2026
Other Publications Near Levittown, Pennsylvania
Bucks County Courier Times
Levittown Courier Times
Levittown Times
Bucks County Times
