POTTSVILLE — Kyle M. Hoppes faces state prison time after a Schuylkill County jury decided on Monday that he unlawfully possessed two guns and several types of drugs in May 2016 in his car in Schuylkill Township.
Hoppes, 28, of Orefield, did not react as the jury of six men and six women pronounced him guilty of two counts each of possessing a firearm with altered or obliterated manufactures number and possession of a controlled substance and one each of receiving stolen property, carrying a firearm without a license and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Jurors deliberated four hours before reaching their verdict, which ended a one-day trial over which Judge Jacqueline L. Russell presided.
After the verdict, Russell ordered preparation of a presentence investigation, did not immediately schedule sentencing and increased Hoppes’ bail to $100,000 straight cash from $50,000 straight cash. Hoppes returned to prison after the verdict pending further court proceedings.
Schuylkill Township police had charged Hoppes with possessing two handguns, a 9 mm Intratec and a .25 caliber Raven, plus heroin, prescription drugs and wax paper baggies on May 2, 2016, in his blue Saturn at a traffic stop in the township.
“The serial numbers were obliterated,” Chief Frank J. Dimarco, who stopped Hoppes’ car, testified about both guns. Dimarco also said both guns were loaded when he found them in the trunk of Hoppes’ car.
Dimarco said Hope Towing, Tamaqua, towed the car to their garage, where he sealed it with evidence tape until he could apply for a warrant authorizing the search.
Justin Martinson, a Hope employee, testified the building was locked and had surveillance cameras.
“We do not touch them,” he said of cars placed by police in that building.
Catherine McQueen, a forensic scientist at the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem, testified she tested the drugs and concluded they were heroin, Alprazolam, Clonazipam, and a combination of fentanyl and heroin.
Another forensic scientist from the same laboratory, state police Sgt. Darryl J. Elias, testified he tested both guns and concluded the serial numbers were altered and obliterated. When cross-examined by Andrew B. Zelonis, Barnesville, Hoppes’ lawyer, Elias testified that he could not say who altered either number or even who possessed the guns.
Testifying in his own defense, Hoppes said his fiancee, Carina Leach, his father and friends of his have access to his car.
“Did you know there were guns in the trunk?” Zelonis asked Hoppes.
“No,” Hoppes answered.
Leach also testified she had access to the car. However, she said she was using drugs at the time.
“Were you high?” Deputy Assistant District Attorney Jennifer N. Foose asked Leach on cross-examination.
“I could have been,” Leach answered.
In his closing argument, Zelonis criticized Dimarco’s handling of the investigation.
“No one asked my client if he committed a crime,” he said.
He said the only thing that tied Hoppes to the guns and drugs was the fact that they were found in his car.
“Use your common sense,” Zelonis said. “That’s all they’ve got.”
In her closing argument, however, Foose successfully emphasized that Hoppes’ ownership of the car was the key to the situation.
“Kyle Hoppes had both the power and intent to control the drugs and the guns. Kyle controlled what was inside that trunk,” she said. “Kyle Hoppes didn’t want his car searched. Why do you think that is?”
Furthermore, Foose said, documents found in the trunk showed the defendant had been in there about two weeks before the incident.
Zelonis declined to comment on the case after the verdict.
Foose credited the police with building a solid case.
“We’re very pleased with the thoughtfulness of the jury,” she said. “We want to thank Chief Dimarco for his hard work.”
Defendant: Kyle M. Hoppes
Age: 28
Residence: Orefield
Verdict: Guilty of two counts each of possessing a firearm with altered or obliterated manufactures number and possession of a controlled substance and one each of receiving stolen property, carrying a firearm without a license and possession of drug paraphernalia