New York Man Gets Lengthy Prison Sentence in Drug Case

Harmeen Smith, 31, pleaded guilty before Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to four to 10 years in state prison.

The charges stem from an incident Sept. 7 in DuBois City, Pa., after officers entered a residence in search of an individual who had an active warrant from the sheriff's department.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, a man opened the door to the home and said he didn't know where the wanted individual was at. After he checked the house, he told police she was in the bathroom.

He permitted the officers to enter the residence where they found the female hiding behind the shower curtain with her purse. She had two small bags of a controlled substance and a small pill in that purse.

When police spoke with the man, he gave them a fake name. The woman was asked his name and she said she only knew him as Chris Smith, adding that there was a large quantity of drugs inside the house that belonged to him.

Another female entered the home and said she was the person who rents the house. She said the man was her boyfriend and gave his name as Harmeen Smith from New York. She gave her consent to search the home.

Officers then found a bandana with $1,400 in cash folded up inside it. They also found numerous baggies with an off-white powdery substance inside and a large rock of an off-white substance in a plastic bag. A field test determined the substances were 8.5 grams of cocaine and 79 grams of ecstasy.

Police discovered Smith was wanted in New York State. In an interview with the investigators, he admitted that the drugs were his and said he got the money from selling drugs. He said he knew there was a warrant for him, which was why he was in DuBois. Smith told police he would have made about $10,000 if he had sold the drugs.