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Man acquitted on charges

Jury finds Eades not guilty in drug case

HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Blair County jury recently acquitted an Altoona man on three drug-related charges at the end of a two-day trial.

Michael Cortez Eades, who represented himself, was found not guilty of possession with intent to deliver, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of a controlled substance.

Eades, before and during the trial held April 2 and 3, wrote letters to challenge the charges and his identification as the seller in a Sept. 22, 2016, heroin transaction inside an apartment building on the 800 block of 26th Street.

First Assistant District Attorney Pete Weeks prosecuted the case and called Detective Sgt. Christopher Moser and Sgt. Joseph Merrill to explain to the jury how they worked with a confidential informant who arranged to buy five packets of heroin for $100.

The confidential informant, now an inmate at a state prison, told the jury that it was Eades who sold the heroin to her. At the time of the sale, she said she knew him only by a nickname, “Mizz,” and that she had met him through a friend. She also admitted that she began working with police to make controlled buys because she had pending drug-related charges.

Moser told the jury that the confidential informant went inside the apartment building to make the purchase. Police watched her enter and leave the building before she returned with five heroin packets stamped “Brain Freeze.” Police, in arrest documents, also acknowledged that she told them that another man had been inside the building, too.

Eades asked Moser if police saw who opened the door and allowed the woman to enter. Moser said police observed the door opening but were unable to identify who let her in.

Weeks also asked Moser if he had any evidence of the confidential informant ever lying, and Moser said no.

Eades was previously represented by attorney Ed Zang, but in November, Eades told Judge Elizabeth Doyle that he wanted to secure a new attorney.

On March 12, Eades was in court without an attorney when his case came up for jury selection. After questioning Eades about his intention to represent himself, Judge Timothy Sullivan signed an order allowing Eades to select a jury. Eades’ trial was held before Judge Daniel Milliron.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.

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