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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A New Jersey man staying at an Altoona residence in November 2022, where police found drugs, guns and cash, has been sentenced to 2.5 to seven years' incarceration.
James Sykes-Griffin, 50, currently an inmate in the Blair County Prison, told President Judge Wade Kagarise that he was taking responsibility for his actions.
"I got drawn into that house," Sykes-Griffin said.
Defense attorney Jeffrey Weinberg told Kagarise that his client was a drug user who followed some young women to 1309 11th St., a house that police happened to have under surveillance.
"He's just some schmuck who happened to be there," Weinberg said as he asked for leniency on behalf of his client.
Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Thomas told Kagarise that the commonwealth's position has been that Sykes-Griffin was part of a drug-trafficking enterprise led by Raymond Roosevelt Moore.
In July, Moore was acquitted by a jury of criminal conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver. But trial testimony indicated that both Moore and Sykes-Griffin had bedrooms at the house and that prior to the Nov. 3, 2022, search, which turned up $2,500 in cash, guns and an owe sheet, Moore moved out. In addition to Sykes-Griffin, police arrested Richard Wertz and Brittany Powley, whose charges are still pending.
In response to Weinberg's comments about his client, Kagarise said that having a lesser role in trafficking drugs doesn't diminish the serious nature of the offense.
"These high level dealers wouldn't be able to do what they do without people to help them," Kagarise said.
Weinberg said he recognized that his client's prior record score put him in a position, under the state sentencing guidelines, to be facing five to 10 years' incarceration for his guilty plea to a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver. The defense attorney proposed that a sentence of two to four years' incarceration was more appropriate for the offense, given Sykes-Griffin's entry of a guilty plea.
Kagarise handed down 2.5 to seven years and no additional time for additional guilty pleas to possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Kagarise also directed Sykes-Griffin to submit to a drug and alcohol evaluation and follow treatment recommendations while incarcerated and on parole.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.