Oct 26, 2016 2 min read

A Donora man who police alleged was dealing crack cocaine pleaded guilty Wednesday to lesser charges on what would have been the second day of his trial as the prosecution faced challenges because of the absence of the arresting officer and evidence – but not drug evidence – apparently no longer in police custody.

Washington County Judge Michael J. Lucas sentenced 25-year-old Christian “Criddy” Lowe to 18 months in the intermediate punishment program, including the first six months on electronic monitoring, to be served concurrently with 12 months of probation. Under the terms of the deal offered by Assistant District Attorney John Friedmann, the prosecution dropped a felony possession with intent to distribute charge against Lowe.

“(The prosecution) had a witness that was unavailable for trial that affected their ability to go forward on the felony (charge),” said attorney Ryan Tutera, who represented Lowe.

The case began with a Jan. 20, 2015, complaint from a day care center that someone was smoking marijuana at an adjacent apartment building on McKean Avenue. Police zeroed in on the Lowe family’s unit, and then his room as the source, and entered with the consent of his uncle and grandmother.

Officer Dennis Cole, who responded to the call, testified Tuesday he found in plain view a small bag of what he suspected was marijuana in a wooden box on Lowe’s dresser and a baggie of suspected crack cocaine in a shoe that was in a plastic storage drawer in the room.

Arresting officer Robert Martin, who now works in South Carolina, wrote police allegedly found more evidence that included three more baggies of crack, four cellphones, a marijuana blunt roach, Lowe’s ID card, a bag of rubber bands and a sandwich box of baggies.

“They recognized they had a weakness in their case with the missing witness; however, my client decided to compromise,” Tutera said Wednesday.

Friedmann said Martin’s testimony “would have been needed to authenticate some of the evidence that was found.”

Further complicating matters, the prosecution would have been unable to present missing items including baggies and Lowe’s ID at trial, though drug evidence and the scales were stil available.

“Some of the other evidence itself is no longer in the custody of the Donora police,” Friedmann said. “We don’t know why.”

Donora police Chief James Brice couldn’t be reached for comment.