HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Philadelphia man accused of trafficking nearly $74,000 worth of narcotics in December 2024 was found guilty on all 12 counts against him Thursday afternoon.

A Blair County jury of seven men and five women convicted Damar Michael Holmes, 34, on four felony counts of possession with intent to deliver, three felony counts each of conspiracy – possession with intent to deliver and criminal use of a communication facility and single misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The jury deliberated about 30 minutes before returning the guilty verdict in the three cases presented to them. When defense attorney First Assistant Public Defender John Siford asked that the jury be polled, they all confirmed that they agreed with the verdict.

Presiding Judge Jackie Atherton Bernard scheduled Holmes for sentencing on July 21 and ordered the defense and prosecution to have their sentencing memoranda with sentencing guidelines submitted by July 13.

Before the jury began their deliberations, Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks called on Altoona Police Cpl. Garrett Trent to detail his investigation of Holmes. Trent said he performed an extraction of data from Holmes’s cellphone and found about six messages referencing “coke” and claiming that four ounces of the drug could be sold in the county “easy.”

The extraction data also showed multiple round-trip tickets to and from Philadelphia, from which Holmes trafficked narcotics such as cocaine, methamphetamine and various opiates.

On cross examination, Siford asked Trent when he first started talking to the confidential informant, who testified Wednesday, about becoming a confidential informant. Trent said it was about spring 2025 and that the informant was a drug user who had pending felony charges.

Siford and Weeks then agreed to a stipulation, which Siford read to the jury. Siford said the stipulation was to the fact that Aleah Moore, who also testified Wednesday, and her defense attorney William Wigman met with Weeks regarding her potential cooperation.

Siford told the jury no offers had been made to Moore at that time but Weeks noted her cooperation “would be taken into consideration.”

In his closing arguments, Siford said Holmes did not testify on his own behalf and stressed that it was his right to remain silent.

Siford argued that “everyone who testified, besides the forensic scientists, really has something to gain” by implicating Holmes.

He said Trent and his fellow officers received overtime pay when working in their capacity as a part of the Attorney General’s West IV Drug Task Force. The confidential informant who testified was “actively using” drugs when he was asked to work with police.

“Officer Trent has held off on filing those charges for over a year now,” Siford said.

Siford argued that no one had seen Holmes perform the buys and that the police only had phone communications.

“There are discrepancies in these testimonies in how these buys played out,” Siford said, before asking the jury to return not guilty verdicts.

Weeks then asked the jury to find Holmes guilty on all counts.

“Don’t leave your common sense at the door,” Weeks said. “This is not about overtime (pay).”

He argued they “heard no evidence at all” that the testifying officers “would make a dime more” if they made more arrests or filed more charges against certain individuals.

Weeks also said the chain of custody for the case’s evidence was “carefully preserved” and the seized drugs were “accurately tested.”

He told the jury that Moore and the confidential informant openly admitted their guilt and culpability.

“(The informant) has everything to lose if he lies or makes something up,” Weeks said.

As for Holmes not performing any buys directly, Weeks said Holmes “is smart enough to understand” that he needed to insulate himself from the people to whom he sells drugs.

“(Holmes) is hands-off because he believes it will prevent you from holding him accountable,” Weeks said.

Following the jury’s verdict, Holmes was remanded to the Blair County Prison to await sentencing.

Holmes is awaiting disposition of a fourth Blair County case, which is scheduled for trial in front of President Judge Wade A. Kagarise on June 16. In that case, Holmes faces five felony counts of possession with intent to deliver, a felony count of conspiracy to commit possession with intent to deliver, five misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

The charges stem from a city-wide saturation detail Altoona and Blair County Drug Task Force officers conducted in mid-December 2024. During that operation, Holmes was found in a vehicle that was stopped after the driver failed to use a turn signal.

A K9 officer alerted to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle and a search warrant was secured, court documents state.

When the search warrant was executed, officers allegedly found the following inside Holmes’s backpack: 1,262 packets of heroin, 414 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 63 grams of cocaine, 62 grams of crack cocaine, 26 pressed fentanyl pills and four suspected fentanyl pills, as well as $366 in cash. The street value of the drugs was about $73,776, police records state.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.