---
alias:
- Elizabeth Abrams
category: Law Enforcement & Legal
created: 2026-09-23
location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
relations:
- fn: 1
  role: assistant United States attorney
  type: employed_by
  with: '[[Executive Office for United States Attorneys|United States Attorney''s
    Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania]]'
- end: 2012-07-03
  fn: 1
  start: 2009-12-15
  type: prosecuted
  with: '[[R.C. Horsch]]'
summary: Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  who prosecuted R.C. Horsch's 2009-2012 marijuana and firearms case.
tags:
- Person
- Prosecutor
- Philadelphia
- RCHorsch
updated: 2026-09-23
---

Elizabeth F. Abrams has served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She prosecuted *United States v. Horsch*, No. 2:09-cr-00794, the case against [R.C. Horsch](/people/rc-horsch/) for growing marijuana and possessing firearms at his house in New Britain Township.[^1]

### United States v. Horsch

The indictment was filed on December 15, 2009, before Judge [Richard Barclay Surrick](/people/richard-barclay-surrick/), with [Jerome Brown](/people/jerome-brown/) appearing for the defense. Abrams filed an information under 21 U.S.C. section 851 on December 23, 2010, giving notice of Horsch's prior drug convictions so as to enhance his sentence. He pleaded guilty on January 10, 2011, to possessing 100 or more marijuana plants with intent to distribute, possessing a short-barreled shotgun in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and was sentenced in 2012 to 54 months; his house on Airy Avenue was forfeited.[^1]

### Other Cases

In December 2014, under United States Attorney Zane David Memeger, she was named as the prosecutor of a Philadelphia man charged with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, in a case investigated by the [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) and the [Philadelphia Police Department](/organizations/philadelphia-police-department/).[^2]

[^1]: *United States v. Horsch,* No. 2:09-cr-00794-RBS (E.D. Pa.), filed December 15, 2009; superseding indictment of January 26, 2010, information under 21 U.S.C. sec. 851 of December 23, 2010, change of plea of January 10, 2011, judgments of June 28 and July 3, 2012, and final order of forfeiture of October 22, 2012, docket via CourtListener RECAP. https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=Horsch&type=r&court=paed
[^2]: United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, "Man Charged With Possession Of A Firearm By A Convicted Felon," press release, December 16, 2014 ("is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Abrams"), archived. https://web.archive.org/web/20260524074237/https://www.justice.gov/usao-edpa/pr/man-charged-possession-firearm-convicted-felon