Four men conspired in July 2014 to burgle the residence of a Pottsville woman, a Schuylkill County jury decided on Wednesday.
After deliberating approximately 2 1/2 hours, the jury of nine men and three women found Haroun A. Elhaadi, 37, address not known, Loron Irving, 41, of Pottsville, Daniel Lopez Jr., 24, of Minersville, and Brett E. Newman, 29, of Shenandoah, guilty of conspiracy.
Jurors also found Elhadi and Newman guilty of false identification to law enforcement; Irving guilty of possession of a controlled substance; and Newman guilty of fleeing or eluding police.
Judge Jacqueline L. Russell, who presided over the three-day trial, found Newman guilty of driving under suspension.
Russell ordered preparation of a presentence investigation on each defendant and said she would schedule their sentencings at a later date. She continued bail for Elhadi, Lopez and Newman, who already are in prison, but increased Irving’s bail to $10,000 percentage from $5,000 percentage, meaning he will have to post an additional $500 cash to remain free pending his sentencing.
Pottsville police charged the quartet with conspiring to burglarize the 811 W. Race St. residence of Jody Gamrack about 1 p.m. July 16, 2014.
Lawyers for the four defendants said in their closing arguments that there was no evidence of a conspiracy.
“We have no understanding because there was not a conspiracy,” Jeffrey M. Markosky, Mahanoy City, Elhadi’s lawyer, said.
Markosky also said his client hid from police because he had an arrest warrant from another case, not because he was guilty in this one.
“My guy didn’t do the burglary and there was no evidence of a conspiracy,” Claude A.L. Shields, Pottsville, Newman’s lawyer, said.
Julie A. Werdt, Orwigsburg, Lopez’s lawyer, also argued that no evidence showed a conspiracy existed.
“There’s no evidence my client went in that home. There’s no evidence that there was an agreement,” she said.
However, jurors accepted the argument of Assistant District Attorney Robert I. Lipkin that the evidence pointed inevitably to the conclusion that all the defendants were guilty.
“Do you really think ... anything happened other than what the commonwealth said?” he asked.
Jurors do not have to limit themselves to direct evidence concerning the conspiracy, Lipkin said.
“You are permitted to look at the surrounding facts” and infer the existence of the conspiracy from those, he said. “We have behavior of all of them that indicates their part.”
The loading of the safe into the car Newman was driving showed the quartet’s true intent, according to Lipkin.
“They know they have a stolen safe. They’re getting out of Dodge,” he said.
Lipkin also mocked Lopez’s testimony that he found the safe in the backyard.
“Who puts a safe in the backyard? That makes no sense,” he said.
The quartet’s actions showed an “absolute consciousness” of guilty, Lipkin said.