2 men face trial on drug charges
CHICORA — A Butler County man and a Michigan man are headed for trial on felony and misdemeanor drug charges stemming from a search of a Clay Township home where state police vice officers allegedly seized suspected crack cocaine and other evidence.
Michael J. Gladd, 49, the homeowner, and Deandre J. Bogan, 21, of Eastpointe, Mich., were ordered held for court Tuesday at a preliminary hearing before District Judge Lewis Stoughton.
The lone witness to testify at the hearing was a vice officer, who recounted the sealed search warrant that was executed Jan. 17 at the house on Queen Junction Road.
The Butler Eagle's policy is to not identify such officers due to the nature of their assignment.
“The investigation was for a Mr. Michael Gladd, who lives at the residence, and an unknown black male,” the officer testified. Bogan is black.
The state police Special Emergency Response Team forced entry and found the defendants in different bedrooms. Once the house was cleared and the occupants detained, vice officers moved in and conducted the search.
In Gladd's room, police found two baggies of suspected crack, with about one-half gram in each baggie. They also turned up an unmarked bottle containing suspected amphetamine pills, and a cellphone.
The search of the room where Bogan was, the officer said, contained about 30 grams of suspected crack and a digital scale in a dresser drawer. On the bed was a little more than $2,600 and two or three cellphones.
Police seized four cellphones from that room.
The officer alluded to his years of working in the vice unit in testifying that the amount of drugs in the rooms and the other evidence found indicated the defendants were involved in a conspiracy to distribute drugs.
But both defense attorneys tried to refute that assertion during cross-examination.
“Do you have any evidence that my client and Mr. Gladd had an agreement to distribute crack cocaine?” asked Bogan's attorney, Stanley Booker of New Castle.
“Under my training and experience,” the officer said, “it's common practice for individuals that own or rent a residence to have people from out of state come in and sell narcotics out of the residence and also supply those individuals (with drugs to use).”But after a follow-up question, the officer conceded that he had no direct evidence of an agreement between the defendants to sell or deliver drugs.He also admitted that he did not know how long Bogan had been staying at the house, or when he arrived there.“Do you have any evidence that my client knew there were drugs inside the dresser? Booker said.“No, I don't,” the officer replied.“So what you have is him sleeping in a bed of a house that's not his, correct?” Booker asked“That's correct,” the officer said.Gladd's attorney, county public defender Ryan Helsel, asked: “Do you have any evidence that Mr. Gladd knew what was in the room where Mr. Bogan was located?”“I did not ask (him) any questions relative to that,” the officer said, “so, no.”Helsel also noted the relatively small amount of drugs and other contraband evidence found in his client's bedroom.“Would you agree that the items found in Mr. Gladd's room would be indicative of personal use?” he asked.“It could be,” the officer replied, “or the way that they were packaged, it could be sold in half-gram increments.”In their closing arguments, Booker and Helsel asserted a lack of evidence in asking Stoughton to dismiss the most serious charges.Stoughton praised the arguments of each attorney, but he ruled that for the purposes of Tuesday's hearing, both defendants should stand trial.Each is charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and conspiracy, both felonies.Additionally, both are charged with possession of a controlled substance, conspiracy and possession of drug paraphernalia, all misdemeanors.Bogan and Gladd are in Butler County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bond and $100,000 bond, respectively.
