A man who New Kensington police say admitted to smoking marijuana and then invited an officer to search him has been ordered to stand trial in Westmoreland County on drug charges.
Brandon Allen Iapalucci, 30, of the 200 block of South Good Street in Jeannette was charged with a felony count of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver along with four related drug charges in connection with a July 3 incident in the 900 block of Ivy Alley.
Iapalucci was taken into custody Sept. 15 and detained in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of a $25,000 cash bond as he awaited his Sept. 28 preliminary hearing before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr.
After the hearing, the judge ordered Iapalucci held for court on all charges. Formal arraignment in Westmoreland County Court is scheduled for Nov. 29.
According to a criminal complaint, an officer was patrolling in the 900 block of Fourth Avenue when he saw a number of people entering what he thought may have been an illegal bar.
When the officer spotted a black Honda with heavily tinted windows entering Ivy Alley, he went to the other end of the street to try to intercept it, but it never emerged, the complaint said.
The officer circled the block to find the car, but it was parked and empty by the time he returned, police said.
Investigators said there was a bag of suspected cocaine in the car’s cup holder.
Iapalucci told police, “I came in that” when asked whether he was the driver, the complaint said.
When the officer questioned him about the strong smell of marijuana, Iapalucci told him he had a medical card to buy it but did not have the card with him, police said.
Iapalucci told the officer he knew medical marijuana patients are not permitted to smoke it and must use a vaping device, the complaint said.
After Iapalucci was patted down for weapons, he told the officer to “go ahead” and search him as he placed his hands on a nearby soft drink machine, the complaint said.
A marijuana blunt was found in the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, and a small bag of pot was in his pants pocket, police said.
When the officer told Iapalucci he would be charged with marijuana possession, Iapalucci replied: “If you’re going to arrest me for the weed, then you’re gonna arrest me for what’s inside the car,” according to the complaint.
The car was impounded by police, who got a search warrant and confiscated the bag of marijuana from the car along with supplies used to package drugs for sale, the complaint said.
Tests on the car’s windows showed the amount of light that came through the tint was between 0% and 11% instead of the required 75%, police said.
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