Blair DA withdraws all charges against Tyrone man after witness alleges statement was coerced
Key witness alleged she was threatened by law enforcement to implicate Morales
Trending
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- The Blair County District Attorney's Office withdrew all charges in mid-September against a Tyrone man accused of selling a firearm to a confidential informant after a key witness alleged she was threatened by law enforcement.
Eugene Martin Morales, 37, was charged May 14, 2025, with single felony counts of possession of firearm prohibited, criminal conspiracy engaging in penalties - sales to ineligible transferee, penalties - sales to ineligible transferee and receiving stolen property.
The case was brought against Morales after a confidential informant contacted Altoona police on May 13, 2025, saying they could purchase a firearm and drugs from an individual later identified as Kenneth Martin Brobeck, 35, at a residence along the 1800 block of 10th Street. The informant told officers they had arranged the buy and officers drove them to the residence to make the transaction, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
After meeting with Brobeck, the informant gave officers a backpack containing a firearm but no drugs. In a statement, the informant said Morales was in the room when the transaction occurred and that Brobeck and Morales worked together selling drugs and guns out of the residence. The CI told officers it was not the first time they had purchased a "burner" gun from Brobeck and that Brobeck was aware the CI could not lawfully purchase firearms from a conventional store due to being a convicted felon, the police report states.
Officers executed a search warrant on Brobeck's residence May 14, 2025, and located Brobeck, as well as a witness, within the home. At the Altoona Police Department, the witness told Cpl. Garrett Trent and Sgt. Jon Burns that she saw Morales and Brobeck meet with the informant in the residence on May 13, 2025. The witness said she observed Morales hand the firearm to the informant and the informant hand the money to Morales. As a result of the search warrant, officers recovered a live handgun round in Brobeck's home that matched the caliber of handgun sold to the informant, the report states.
Defense attorney Kristen Anastasi filed pre-trial motions in the case Sept. 7, in which she asked the court to exclude the "coerced statement" made by the witness on May 14,
2025. She wrote that "according to APD's own supplemental report," the witness "did not initially provide the inculpatory account ultimately attributed to her by police."
The witness "initially expressed a lack of knowledge" regarding the transaction, with officers characterizing her as being "evasive," Anastasi wrote. The witness only implicated Morales after continued questioning by police.
Anastasi stated the witness was not free to leave the interview, as she was taken back to a holding cell following the interrogation. She later learned that "law enforcement threatened (the witness) with the removal of her children if she did not provide a statement implicating Morales" during her interview.
"Specifically, (the witness) has represented that law enforcement threatened to take her children from her unless she said Morales committed the offense and/or was responsible for the firearm transaction," Anastasi wrote. "The circumstances described by (the witness) constitute an extraordinarily coercive means of obtaining purported evidence against Morales."
Morales appeared alongside Anastasi on Sept. 15 for a motion to compel hearing in front of President Judge Wade A. Kagarise. During that hearing, Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks moved to have the charges against Morales withdrawn.
The criminal jury trial in Morales' case scheduled to begin Sept. 21 was subsequently canceled by Kagarise, court documents state. Morales had been held at the Blair County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail since Dec. 9, 2025.
In a statement, Anastasi said she was "fully prepared to proceed to trial and vigorously defend Mr. Morales and had raised significant legal and evidentiary issues concerning the prosecution's case."
She said the informant had identified Brobeck as the individual who possessed and sold them the firearm, not Morales. She had requested the audio and video recordings of the police interviews "that were material to evaluating the circumstances under which those statements were obtained" and noted there was no DNA or other forensic evidence implicating Morales.
"We also filed a motion raising serious concerns about the reliability and credibility of the sole witness implicating Mr. Morales, including her allegation that law enforcement threatened her with the removal of her children if she did not cooperate," Anastasi said. "Faced with these significant evidentiary, reliability, and credibility concerns, the Commonwealth ultimately withdrew all charges, consistent with its ethical obligations."
Brobeck is being held at the Cambria County Prison in lieu of $100,000 in connection with the case. He faces single felony counts of possession of firearm prohibited, criminal conspiracy to engage in possession of a firearm prohibited and penalties - sales to ineligible transferee. His next court appearance is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 17 in front of Kagarise.
The District Attorney's Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.