Northampton Township Man Sentenced In Gun, Drug Case: DA

NORTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP, PA — A Northampton Township man has been sentenced to 12 to 24 years in state prison for gun and drug charges that stem from several arrests in 2019 early 2021.

Austin Vaughn Carter, 33, was sentenced on Tuesday, March 15 for charges related to three arrests that occurred in 2019 and early 2021. He pleaded guilty in January to two counts of prohibited possession of a firearm and one count each of receiving stolen property and possession of a controlled substance for arrests that happened on Jan. 27, 2021, and Feb. 3, 2021, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office.

Carter was found guilty of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance during a bench trial in December. That part of the trial occurred before Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey G. Trauger.

Each charge against Carter carries four to eight years in state prison.

Originally arrested in November of 2019 for the delivery of 150 bags of fentanyl to another person for $450, Carter was later arrested in January of 2021 while on probation.

Carter was arrested by Northampton Township police while he was the passenger of a motorcycle, which was later found to have been stolen. He and the driver were arrested for possession of the stolen motorcycle and drugs that were found on the front dash of the vehicle.

Police later found a 9-mm “ghost gun" via a search warrant, which was in the passenger seat of the motorcycle, where Carter had been sitting. As a convicted felon, Carter was not allowed to possess a firearm.

After posting bail for the previous arrest, Carter was arrested for another separate firearms offense. Carter posted bail yet again, just as the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office was filing a motion to have his bail revoked.

Carter was arrested in Atlantic City and extradited on March 13, 2021. His bail was revoked.