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CLEARFIELD -- A Brisbin man facing felony drug charges pleaded guilty Monday in Clearfield County Court.
Alen Edward Erskine, 43, was originally charged by state police with three felony counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, as well as four misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The charges stem from a search of his home on Aug. 12 by state parole officers and state police.
Prior to sentencing, his attorney, Jendi Schwab, noted that Erskine is only 10 days short of the minimum sentence of seven months in his plea agreement. She stated that he has been doing well in the prison now that he is on medication for his mental health issues, for which he had been self-medicating.
She asked for a county sentence rather than a state sentence even though he was previously in state prison on a drug case, saying "he does not want to live this life anymore."
Schwab suggested a county sentence with probation because if he violates his probation, he could be sent to state prison. She asked President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to give him an opportunity to prove himself.
First Assistant F. Cortez "Chip" Bell said that the Commonwealth is staying silent on his place of incarceration as part of the plea agreement.
After considering Schwab's argument, Ammerman sentenced Erskine to serve seven months to 18 months in the county jail with five years' concurrent probation for one felony count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.
It was noted that Erskine is no longer on state parole.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, when parole officers checked the home, they saw multiple items of suspected drug paraphernalia and drugs. They detained Erskine and three other individuals, who were also on state parole.
After a narcotics detection canine deployed in the residence also alerted on items in every room, a search warrant was issued and executed on the home.
During the search of Erskine's bedroom, officers found a bag of heroin, two pieces of foil with suspected heroin, five bags of methamphetamine packaged for individual sale, a bag containing a Subutex pill and another container with 72 gabapentin. They also located $237 in cash and a digital scale.
Erskine's prior record includes a sentence of 21 to 42 months in state prison for possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine in Clearfield County in October 2021, according to a previous article.