CLEARFIELD – Attorneys for three men charged for their alleged involvement with a contraband scheme at the jail are all in opposition to joining their cases for trial.
Police say Eric Kyler, 42, an inmate at the jail, and Jessica Kyler, 36, of Winburne conspired to deliver drugs through a hole in the wall of a multi-purpose room at the county jail.
In addition, Justin Allen Jordan, 34, an inmate of the jail, and Mason Miles, 26, and Chad Schwartz, 47, both currently in state prison, are accused of being co-conspirators.
They are all facing various charges including conspiracy, contraband, possession of a controlled substance, criminal use of communication facility, institutional vandalism, criminal mischief and more.
During motions court Tuesday, discussion was held on a motion by the Commonwealth to combine the cases for one trial.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Dave Gorman, who filed the motions, argued to Judge Paul Cherry that the cases will present the same evidence and it would be less costly to do all the cases at once.
He noted that both Eric and Jessica Kyler have already signed plea agreements. They are scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 22, according to court documents.
This leaves only the cases against Miles, Schwartz and Jordan.
Attorney Christopher Mohney, who is representing Miles, objected to the one trial idea because he disagrees the evidence against them is the same. He stated that Miles was mentioned for a few seconds in a phone call.
Daniel Nelson, attorney for Schwartz, noted that the evidence against Schwartz “was thin” while the evidence against the Kyler’s was “strong.”
If the cases are presented together, Nelson said is likely all three men will be convicted on the “totality of evidence.”
Mohney noted that the jury may be in a position where they will be asked to believe one defendant and not another.
Although Jeffrey DuBois, who is representing Jordan, has just been assigned to the case, he agreed that doing one trial would be prejudicial to his client.
Nelson cited case law in a similar situation that Cherry said he will review prior to making a decision on Gorman’s motion.
According to the affidavits in these cases, Eric Kyler called Jessica Kyler numerous times from the jail in February while they were trying to arrange a contraband exchange. As per jail policy, the calls were recorded.
In the calls, Eric Kyler reportedly gives Jessica Kyler instructions on how to crush up drugs in order to get them through a small hole in the wall near a window in a multi-purpose room that was being used to house several inmates due to space issues.
The inmates allegedly broke a cot and used a piece of the metal to dig the hole to the outside in the mortar near the window of an isolation cell being used as a bathroom.
Jessica Kyler allegedly tried to get something through the hole from outside the jail wall at one point without success, leaving behind a glove and a coat hanger.
During the calls, Jessica Kyler mentions someone named “Chad” dropping her off at the jail and at other times says she is with “Chad.”
At another time while Eric Kyler is talking with Jessica regarding how to get something through the hole, other male voices are heard and he mentions both “Mason” and “Justin”, according to the complaint.
Jail records show that Mason Miles and Justin Jordan were both housed in that room on that date.
In the final call on Feb. 26., Eric Kyler tells Jessica Kyler “thank you, we did make that happen,” according to the report.
