DUBOIS – A Reynoldsville man will stand trial for possessing a variety of drugs.
Justin Edward Salada, 36, was charged with two felony counts of manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, and two misdemeanor counts each of intentional possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia in connection with an encounter with DuBois City police on May 3.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police were called to check on a man who was slumped over the wheel of a vehicle parked at a fuel pump at the Brady Street Sheetz.
When police contacted the driver, he was identified as Salada. In the back seat was a woman who was lying still. She was later determined to be Tiffanie Kurtz, 35, Ridgway.
As she exited the vehicle, police noticed a metal smoking device and butane torch in the back of the van.
Kurtz appeared to be under the influence of an intoxicating substance, police noted in the report. She was asked if she consumed anything today and she admitted to consuming heroin earlier in the day. She went on to say there were 20 stamp bags of the drug in the vehicle, according to the criminal complaint.
Another officer who was speaking with Salada, believed he was also under the influence. He was asked for consent to search the van, but Salada denied the request. He was taken to the police station for a field sobriety test.
Officers applied for and received a warrant to search the vehicle.
Authorities allegedly recovered a total of 65 stamp bags of a heroin-like substance, a bag with a crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia from the van.
A report from the crime lab confirmed the items to be methamphetamine, heroin, xylazine and fentanyl.
After a preliminary hearing on Thursday during centralized court, District Judge David S. Meholick ruled that all the charges be sent to the court of common pleas for further disposition. His bail was set at $15,000.
His co-defendant, Kurtz, who is facing the same charges, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 17.