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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A New Jersey man involved in a scheme that brought 5 pounds of illegal drugs to Altoona by mail has rendered guilty pleas for a sentence of seven-to-20 years' incarceration.
Kareem Ali Bailey, 30, Newark, who has been in the Blair County Prison since his June 22, 2023, arrest at a house on the 500 block of Crawford Avenue, was supposed to go on trial Thursday in county court.
Instead, Bailey on Tuesday entered guilty pleas to two counts of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and heroin with fentanyl and single counts of criminal conspiracy, obstructing the administration of law, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia
President Judge Wade A. Kagarise, who accepted Bailey's guilty pleas, said he would impose the sentence that District Attorney Pete Weeks recommended to address the drug-trafficking offenses. The judge also told Bailey that he could delay sentencing pending completion of a pre-sentence investigation, but if the report offered influencing information, the judge said he would maintain his discretion to impose a sentence other than the one Weeks recommended.
Defense attorney Robert Donaldson said outside court that his client, at the bottom of the standard range of the state's sentencing guidelines, could have been looking at sentences adding up to 12.5-to-25 years' incarceration had he been convicted at trial.
Drug-trafficking activity leading to Bailey's arrest surfaced in June 2023 when a postal inspector, with the help of a drug-sniffing dog, identified a box shipped by a man in Irvine, Calif., to a house on the 500 block of Crawford Avenue.
The postal inspector, working with Altoona police, arranged for an undercover inspector to deliver another box, with an alert monitor, to the Crawford Avenue residence.
That led to the arrest of Breanna Breeze Turner, 26, who accepted delivery of the box, and to Bailey, who retreated to the house's attic and threw items down the stairs to block access for the approaching police officers.
Since his arrest and incarceration, Bailey has been involved in incidents inside the prison, leading to charges of terroristic threats and assault by prisoner.
Turner is also facing drug-trafficking and additional charges.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay
Stephens is at 814-946-7456.