CLEARFIELD– A DuBois man facing several felony drug charges in relation to the sale of drugs from his home pleaded guilty Monday during colloquy court.
DuBois City police say Gerald Clarence Kriner, 41, was suspected of trafficking controlled substances from a residence on South Franklin Street. Surveillance was done on the home beginning in December.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, several individuals seen with Kriner or leaving his home were stopped and questioned.
On Feb. 1, an officer saw Kriner and another man as they walked to a convenience store. Once there, the other man withdrew money from an ATM.
Two hours later, police were called to a South Jared Street home for a drug overdose. The person, who reportedly overdosed and survived, was the same man seen earlier with Kriner.
In early March, two controlled purchases of drugs were made by a confidential informant who set up the transactions by phone.
A search warrant was executed on March 5 at Kriner’s residence where officers found both a white powder substance suspected to be heroin and a white crystalline substance suspected of being methamphetamine, according to the report.
Kriner was originally charged with four felony counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, two felony counts of criminal use of communication facility, four misdemeanor counts of intentional possession of a controlled substance, and three misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.
He pleaded guilty on Monday to one felony count of possession with intent to deliver and one felony count of criminal use of communication facility before President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman.
His attorney, Ryan Dobo, argued for a lesser maximum sentence than the six years the probation office was recommending.
District Attorney Ryan Sayers responded that he felt the six-year maximum was “appropriate” because Kriner has a string of crimes in several counties.
Ammerman sentenced him to serve 18 months to 4½ years in state prison.
