Brewer Waives Hearing in Contraband Case
CLEARFIELD – An Olanta man has been accused of having a bag of methamphetamine inside the Clearfield County Jail.
Robert I. Brewer Jr., 44, has been charged by Officer Ralph Nedza of the Lawrence Township police with felony possession of a controlled substance-contraband/inmate and misdemeanor intentional possession of a controlled substance.
Brewer waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court at the jail. His bail is set at $50,000 monetary.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, at approximately 11 p.m. Jan. 26, Nedza received a report about an inmate being found in possession of a “big bag of meth” at the jail.
Nedza went to seize the contraband and met with the corrections officer who had done a strip search of Brewer. He said as Brewer removed his underwear, a small Ziploc bag containing a white crystalized substance fell from his waistband.
The CO said when he asked Brewer if the substance was meth, he replied “yes” and asked: “can we just get rid of it?” The CO retrieved the bag from the floor and secured it until Nedza’s arrival.
Nedza took the contraband and a NIK test came back positive for the presence of methamphetamine. It was subsequently sent to the Pennsylvania State Police Erie Regional Crime Laboratory for further analysis.
On May 6, Nedza received the lab report, which confirmed the substance was methamphetamine and weighed 1 gram.