COMMONWEALTH VS RAYMOND

A jury convicted a 39-year-old man on drug charges after a relatively quick jury trial today. James Ashton Raymond faced charges of Possession With Intent to Deliver a Controlled Substance, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Drug Paraphanalia in front of Judge William P. Mahon (CP-15-CR-0000963-2007).

WCPD and PSP narcotics officers testified that on August 3, 2006 at around 19:45, a confidential informant was taken by an undercover investigator to the 300 block of South Matlack Street in West Chester. The informant made contact with Raymond, who got into the undercover officer's vehicle and proceeded to hand two small pink ziploc baggies containing suspected crack cocaine in exchange for $20.

The officer then drove to the 200 block of Cedar Alley where Raymond got out of the vehicle and returned with 6 additional small pink baggies for $60; the six baggies also contained suspected crack cocaine. From there, they drove over to the 200 block of East Miner Street in the area of John Green Park, when Raymond again got out of the car and returned about 5 minutes later with 3 small pink baggies of suspected crack cocaine for $30. The defendant then told the undercover and the informant that he was going to get another four bags of cocaine, however after 15 minutes didn't return, thus ending the operation. During the course of the trial, one of the officers testified that he had not since seen any crack cocaine packaged in the pink baggies that were used by Raymond.

Two months after the purchases, the suspected substances were tested at the PSP Lima Labs where the items tested positive for cocaine.

Defense attorney Mark Rassman attempted to persuade the jury that the chain of custody had been broken during the course of the investigation, particularly after one of the officers testified that earlier in the morning, he had displayed the evidence to the DA's staff. Rassman also argued that Raymond was not the intented target of the investigation, though the biggest sticking point was the lack of testimony from the informant in open court.

Assistant District Attorney Steve Jarmon argued the case was simple - that Raymond sold drugs to an undercover officer, and that the case came down to a matter of credibility of the officers and if that they were to be believed, then Raymond should be convicted.

The jury of 6 men and 6 women deliberated for less than 10 minutes before returning a guilty verdict. Raymond is scheduled to be sentenced within 90 days; Raymond is likely facing a state sentence based on his past record, which includes:

• A 1998 guilty plea in front of Judge Howard F. Riley, Jr. for Possession With Intent to Deliver, where he was sentenced to 9-to-23 months at CCP following a September 17, 1998 arrest in West Chester (CP-15-CR-0003731-1998); he also pled guilty to a count of Possession of Marijuana and sentenced to 30 days probation conescutive to parole on the PWID case relating to an October 8, 1997 arrest (CP-15-CR-0001038-1998).
• A 1999 guilty plea in front of Judge Riley for Possession of a Controlled Substance stemming from a September 4, 1999 arrest by Ofc. (now Cpl.) Ryan Collins; he was sentenced to 104 days (time served) to 23 month at CCP (CP-15-CR-0003563-1999).
• A 2000 guilty plea in front of Judge Riley for Possession With Intent to Deliver after a January 5, 2000 arrest by Ofc. Michael Heidelbaugh; he was sentenced to 11-and-a-half to 23 months at CCP (CP-15-CR-0000434-2000).
• A 2002 no contest plea in front of Judge Juan Sanchez on Simple Assault and Theft by Unlawful Taking stemming from a November 11, 2001 robbery in which Raymond stole $100 from his victim; he was sentenced to concurrent 11-and-a-half to 23 month CCP terms (CP-15-CR-0005047-2007).
• A 2004 guilty plea for Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle stemming from a robbery on May 29, 2003 investigated by Ofc. Deb Capik; Judge Thomas Gavin sentenced Raymond to 4-to-23 months at CCP (CP-15-CR-0002794-2003).
• Three separate guilty pleas in 2005 - two Simple Trespassing cases on December 14, 2004 and January 5, 2005 investigated by Ofc. A.J. McCarthy (CP-15-CR-0003766 and 0003767-2005) and a Forgery case in Caln on July 16, 2005 (CP-15-CR-0003917-2005); he was sentenced by Judge Riley (makes you wonder if Raymond had a time-share arrangement in Courtroom #6 all those years) to 10-to-23 months at CCP and 2 years consecutive probation, plus he was required to submit a DNA sample.
• On July 11, Raymond pled guilty in York City District Court to one count of Patronizing a Prostitute following an arrest on November 25, 2006 in York City; the sentence is unknown, but it most likely was a time served sentence as Raymond has been in custody since February on the new charges (19-1-04, CR-0000493-06; CP-67-CR-0004440-2007); while one can technically enter a guilty plea at a preliminary hearing, it's very rare that it happens.

Raymond had been on parole from the Forgery conviction for less than four months on the night he sold the drugs to the undercover officer. Here's hoping his next home is a nice little spot in Cumberland County known as SCI Camp Hill...