PHILADELPHIA, PA — A 25-year-old Indian national living in the United States illegally was sentenced Thursday to 23 months in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm after authorities linked him to weapons recovered during the investigation of a Berks County home invasion and shooting.
Harshpreet Singh was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Catherine Henry after pleading guilty in March to possession of a firearm by an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced.
Federal prosecutors stated Singh was indicted in October 2025 following an August 28, 2024, investigation in Bethel Township.
According to court filings, Pennsylvania State Police and Bethel Township police responded shortly after 1:15 a.m. to reports of a shooting connected to a home invasion at a residence in Bethel Township. At about the same time, officers were dispatched to a nearby gas station, less than a half-mile away, where a gunshot victim had been reported.
Police found the shooting victim, identified in court records only as A.S., inside a vehicle at the gas pumps with a gunshot wound to the torso. Singh and a co-defendant were also inside the vehicle, according to prosecutors.
After the victim was transported to a hospital, investigators searched the surrounding area and recovered two loaded firearms from a gravel lot across the street: a Taurus 9mm semiautomatic pistol loaded with 12 rounds and a privately manufactured “ghost gun” loaded with 17 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
Authorities also recovered a loaded Glock .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol containing 13 rounds from the yard of the residence where the alleged home invasion had been reported.
Federal prosecutors stated forensic testing identified a DNA mixture from the three firearms that included Singh as a potential contributor.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Bethel Township Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosalynda M. Michetti prosecuted the case.
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