CLEARFIELD – A New York man who was allegedly involved in a drug bust in February of 2014 in Lawrence Township had all charges bound over to court after a preliminary hearing Wednesday at the Clearfield County Jail.
David Batista, 31, of Queens, NY has been charged with manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver; conspiracy; intentional possession of a controlled substance by person not registered; and use/possession of drug paraphernalia. Batista is currently incarcerated at the CCJ in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Deputy Attorney General Patrick Leonard presented the case on behalf of the commonwealth. Batista was represented by defense attorney Gary Allen Knaresboro, Esq. of DuBois. Magisterial District Judge Richard Ireland presided over the hearing.
Sergeant Crystal Panebianco of the Lawrence Township police testified first for the commonwealth. On the morning of Feb. 23, 2014, she had received information from an informant who was to drive four people from the Travelodge to the Rodeway Inn, and there was to be drugs inside of the vehicle.
According to her, she conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of state Route 879 and Industrial Drive. The informant was the operator of the vehicle; Edward Allen, or “Blue,” was the front seat passenger; Shaking Saunders was the rear, driver’s side passenger; and Lashanda Mount was the middle, rear passenger. Batista was seated in the rear on the passenger’s side, she said.
During a search of the vehicle, Panebianco testified that police found a black duffel bag containing two bundles of money, which totaled more than $7,000, and a large amount of suspected crack cocaine. She said the crack cocaine was in several smaller bags inside another bag.
She said inside a laptop bag, police found nine Western Union receipts for money transfers. Police, she said, also found a small digital scale used to weigh out smaller amounts of drugs.
She was presented with a laboratory report, which indicated the seized drugs tested positive for the presence of crack cocaine. Further, she said that the report indicated there were 36 bags, totaling 38.62 grams of crack cocaine.
Under cross-examination, Panebianco testified that she stopped the informant for driving without a license. She said they had warrants on him and he was “known” to her. Before searching the vehicle, she said police contacted the informant’s girlfriend who was the owner of the vehicle, and obtained written consent.
So far as the bags found within the trunk, she said police obtained consent to search from the owners or through a search warrant.
Panebianco said that police only located drugs inside bags contained within the trunk of the vehicle. She said police neither located drugs nor large amounts of money on Batista.
The informant also testified on behalf of the commonwealth. On Feb. 23, 2014, he picked up four people, including Batista, at the Travelodge to take them to the Rodeway Inn for them to “change it up.”
When he arrived at the hotel room at the Travelodge, he observed bags, including a black duffel bag with drugs. He said all of the defendants – Allen, Saunders, Mount and Batista – helped load the bags into the trunk of his girlfriend’s vehicle. The informant said he hadn’t made it one mile down the road when he was stopped by police.
The informant said he started purchasing crack cocaine from Allen, or “Blue,” about two weeks before the traffic stop. When he purchased drugs several times daily, he said he gave money to whoever “Blue” told him to and “Blue” told one of the others to give him the crack cocaine.
Some of the drug exchanges involved Batista, the informant said.
When asked by Knaresboro, the informant said he didn’t use drugs on the day of the traffic stop, as it was still early in the morning. He said that prior to the traffic stop, the last time he had used drugs was early on Feb. 22, 2014. When asked, the informant said he isn’t any longer using drugs.
