Convicted trafficker jailed
CONCORD TWP — A convicted drug trafficker is jailed after a parole compliance check turned up nearly half a pound of suspected cocaine, a stolen pistol and nearly $10,000 in currency at his Route 38 home, authorities said.
Jamel A. Barnes, 28, is being held in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail. He was arraigned Thursday on four felony charges in the case filed by the Butler County Drug Task Force.
County Detective Tim Fennell, who heads the task force, said the defendant was home Wednesday when state parole agents arrived for a routine visit.
Barnes is under supervision by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole in connection with a 2017 drug trafficking conviction in Ohio, Fennell said.
The agents searched the home and found a grocery-type bag hidden in the chimney clean out.
The grocery bag held four plastic baggies that contained a combined 112 grams of suspected crack cocaine, Fennell said, and three other plastic baggies with a total of 84 grams of suspected powered cocaine.
The search also yielded a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber pistol, according to court documents, that was stashed behind the dresser in a bedroom. A magazine with six live rounds was loaded in the gun.
The pistol was reported stolen on Nov. 30, 2017. Fennell said it was taken from a car at a home on Old East Butler Road in Oakland Township.
Barnes' prior drug trafficking conviction, Fennell noted, prohibits him from possessing any firearms under state law.
Also seized during the search was $9,220 in currency. Of that amount, authorities said, $7,025 was found in a rental car at the house.
Additionally, agents found a cooking pan with suspected cocaine residue on the kitchen stove.
District Judge Lewis Stoughton arraigned Barnes on two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and one count each of illegal possession of a firearm and receiving stolen property, all felonies.
He also is charged with a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
His preliminary hearing is set for July 24 at Stoughton's office in Chicora.
Court records showed that Barnes is already facing trial in connection with separate arrests for driving under the influence — on March 5 in Butler and on Aug. 25, 2017, in Brady Township.
