Carbon man convicted by jury of five criminal charges

A Carbon County man was convicted by a jury late Tuesday afternoon of all five criminal counts filed against him, including four drug charges and a count of indecent exposure, following a one-day trial in the county court.

Jason Reed, 45, of Jim Thorpe, was found guilty of two counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count each of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and the indecent exposure count. The possession with intent is a felony.

Reed represented himself at the trial and did not testify. Assistant District Attorney Gary Dobias prosecuted the case. Judge Steven R. Serfass presided and appointed attorney Gregory L. Mousseau, chief public defender, to be standby counsel for Reed but could not actively participate in the trial only advised Reed when asked by the defendant.

Testimony

Officer John Pruitte, of the Jim Thorpe police, was the prosecutor in the case.

He testified that on March 12, 2019, about 11 p.m. he received a dispatch from the county communications center of a male masturbating in the middle of the street. The incident occurred at the intersection of North and Spruce avenues, but the communications center initially dispatched Pruitte to the intersection of Route 209 at the Liberties. Pruitte went to that area but found nothing.

He said the communications center then corrected the location and he went to the North and Spruce intersection.

Upon arrival the officer observed a male lying half in the street and half on the curb and grass area with his underwear and pants down to his knees exposing his private parts. He approached the male, who he identified as Reed.

He said, “He actually appeared to be sleeping.”

As he was attempting to wake Reed up, Sgt. Michael Bokeko arrived and assisted in getting Reed to his feet. He said Reed appeared to be unconscious when he first attempted to get him up.

Once on his feet the officers pulled up his underwear and pants, handcuffed him and took him to the police cruiser. As Pruitte was reaching inside the cruiser, he observed a plastic baggie fall to the floor of the cruiser. He immediately identified it as a controlled substance.

Pruitte said this led to him and Bokeko going to where they initially found Reed and searching the area. The officers found two more baggies similar to the one they had found in the cruiser. Pruitte added that Reed was somewhat unruly as they attempted to place him in the cruiser.

Reed was then transported to the police station where he was searched a second time before being placed in a holding cell. At this point another baggie was found in his left shoe.

Pruitte said while en route to the police station he had requested an EMS unit to respond there to check Reed.

The EMS unit arrived and the personnel recommended Reed be taken to the Lehighton hospital to be evaluated. The ambulance transported Reed to the hospital followed by Pruitte, where he was checked and then released.

Pruitte said he secured the baggies found in evidence envelopes and later sent them to the state police crime laboratory for analysis. The results indicated the baggies found at the scene contained methamphetamine and the one found in Reed’s shoe was heroin. The meth found weighed about 5 grams and the heroin 1.27 grams.

Under questioning by Reed, Pruitte said during the initial pat-down of the defendant, when they got him to his feet nothing was found. Pruitte also said Reed appeared to be under the influence of drugs at the scene.

Bokeko testified to support Pruitte’s testimony of finding Reed unconscious and naked from the waist down. Bokeko also said when Reed was placed in the cruiser, Pruitte said, “What’s this,” and showed him the baggie he had found on the floor.

Under questioning by Reed, Bokeko said the initial investigation at the scene did not include officers knocking of doors of the area homes to see if anyone saw anything. He said based on the communications received concerning a male acting up in the intersection and exposing himself, he and Pruitte felt there was no need since they felt that they had the suspect in custody.

Also testifying was Kurt Schwartz, a narcotic agent for the state Attorney General’s office, who was qualified as an expert in the packaging for sale and the eventual sale of illegal drugs.

He said based on his view of the baggies found, the amount of drugs contained in those baggies, that they had a street value of about $500. He said in his experience the drugs found were prepared for sale by the defendant.

Reed Kurt Murray, who resides near the intersection, said Reed was in his home prior to the incident and that he found drugs on the floor in the kitchen area that weren’t there prior to Reed’s arrival. He said he ordered Reed out of his home. He also testified he looked outside after Reed left but didn’t see him exposing himself.

In closing arguments, Reed told the jury, “My intention was to raise doubt.” He said there were no witnesses, other that the testimony of the police officers, that he had exposed himself. He also said he could not remember everything that happened because he was having blackouts due to his drug use. He also argued that there were no sales made or observed by police, attempting to challenge the possession with intent to deliver charge.

Dobias said the testimony of the officers clearly showed when they found Reed he was exposing himself.

He also argued if police were trying to frame Reed, which he said the defendant’s remarks and questions appeared to indicate, they could have done a better job like stating all the baggies were found on Reed, not found on the floor of the cruiser or where he was found lying in the street. He also said, “voluntarily consuming drugs is not a defense under the law.”

Serfass deferred sentencing and ordered a presentence investigation report be prepared by the adult probation office.

Reed is currently an inmate in the county prison on the charges and also has four other pending criminal cases filed against him.