CLEARFIELD – A Curwensville man pleaded guilty to felony drug charges Monday during colloquy court.
Nicholas Chase Hecei, 22, was sentenced to 18 months to three years in state prison for possession with intent to deliver-methamphetamine, and felony firearm charges by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman.
The charges stem from an incident at a Lawrence Township business in Aug. 2019 when a business reported a man, identified later as Hecei, passed out in a car in their parking lot. They were able to wake him up briefly but he went back to sleep quickly. A search of the vehicle uncovered 15 grams of methamphetamine.
Prior to his sentencing, his attorney, Joshua Maines, asked for a shorter maximum sentence for his client because he “has made a big turnaround” in the past years. He noted that Hecei has a zero prior record score.
A friend spoke for Hecei stating that he has been helpful in remodeling a residence for him. Hecei’s mother and his current employer wrote letters in support of Hecei.
Hecei himself addressed the court stating that he had “disappointed my family and myself”. He admitted that what he had done was wrong, adding he wanted to get through his incarceration quickly and back to work so he does not become another “Clearfield County statistic”.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, when officers arrived, the vehicle was running and the driver’s window was down.
Through the window, officers could see a large throwing star and a large knife on the right of the driver’s seat. One of the officers was able to remove the knife without the man waking. They then had to physically wake him.
“The male appeared to be groggy with a low, slow speech,” the criminal complaint states.
He was identified as Hecei and asked what he was doing at the store. He was confused about how long he had been in the parking lot. As he mumbled, he appeared to be falling asleep again. He could not remember the store manager trying to wake him up.
After he failed a field sobriety test, he was asked if he had been arrested before and he admitted he had two prior driving under the influence cases because he used controlled substances. He related that he had used methamphetamine within the last 24 hours.
After he was asked if he had anything else illegal in the vehicle, he said if there were any drugs they would be in a box near his seat.
Officers located the box which had a scale, 15 grams of methamphetamine, some pills, various vape cartridges, and drug paraphernalia.
His wallet contained over $300 in cash and several driver’s licenses belonging to other individuals.
Later after receiving a tip, police found Hecei had discarded a loaded firearm while he was in the back of the patrol car.
In an interview with investigators, Hecei admitted to using meth the night police found him in his vehicle. He also stated he was “caught off guard” when police talked to him and was too afraid to tell officers about the gun when he was taken into custody.
In a second case, he pleaded guilty to a third offense DUI for which he was given a concurrent sentence of one to two years in state prison.