Lackawanna County jury delivers mixed verdict in Scranton drug case
Feb. 2—A Lackawanna County Court jury found a Scranton man guilty of multiple misdemeanor drug possession charges but acquitted him on one related felony count and could not reach a verdict on others.
Jurors returned the mixed verdict in the case of Chad Derrick Howey, 45, to Judge Michael J. Barrasse on Wednesday after deliberating more than four hours over two days.
Howey was arrested in March after city police said officers found cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin/fentanyl and other drugs in his possession during a traffic stop in the Hill Section.
Additional narcotics were found during searches of a tent in woods near Mount Pleasant Drive and a storage unit on North Seventh Avenue, both owned by Howey, police said.
In all, investigators seized drugs with a street value of about $6,386, as well as $5,728 in cash, police said.
Howey, who was represented by attorney C.J. Rotteveel at the three-day trial, was convicted on six counts of possession of a controlled substance.
However, jurors found him not guilty on one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on four other felony possession with intent counts.
The jury also could not reach a verdict on a possession of drug paraphernalia charge.
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