Luzerne man sent to state prison on drug-selling count

A Luzerne County man was sentenced to a state prison term in Carbon County court on Monday after previously pleading guilty to a drug-selling charge.

Jarrad McKenzie Profit, 34, of Hazleton, was sentenced to serve 15 to 36 months in a state correctional institution on a charge of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.

Profit was one of three arrested following a traffic stop along Interstate 80 in Kidder Township on July 11, 2016.

Profit was a passenger in the vehicle along with Rafael Medina, 31, of Tamaqua.

The driver was Eladio Santiago, 33, also of Tamaqua.

All three entered guilty pleas on the same day. Both Medina and Santiago have already been sentenced.

A large quantity of drugs was found in the vehicle.

At the stop state troopers from the Fern Ridge barracks detected criminal activity and requested a consent search, which Santiago denied.

A K-9 unit was called to the scene and detected drugs in the vehicle; 996 grams of cocaine were found. Troopers said the cocaine was purchased in New York City.

Profit took responsibility for the 996 grams of cocaine.

Profit told Matika, “I made a judgment I shouldn’t have made.”

Matika said Profit faced a state prison term because he had a prior conviction for possession with intent and was sentenced to a state prison term in that case.

Matika also ordered him to render 75 hours of community service when released on parole, get both drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations, zero tolerance imposed for drug and alcohol use, supply a DNA sample and pay court costs of about $1,000.

He was given credit for one day spent in jail on the charge. He will begin the jail term at 9 a.m. Oct. 23.