News

October 27, 2009

Man withdraws drug charges plea

Trial for Donald Pennix to be scheduled. Co-defendant sentenced to 24-48 months.

By Sheena Delazio sdelazio@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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WILKES-BARRE – A Kingston man was permitted to withdraw his guilty plea to several drug-related charges Monday, while his co-defendant was sentenced to several years in state prison.

Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph Augelloallowed Donald Hakim Pennix, 32, of Rutter Avenue, to withdraw a guilty plea to charges of possession with intent to deliver, criminal conspiracy and delivery of a controlled substance.

Sharif Clarke, 28, also appeared before Augello on Monday and was sentenced to 24 to 48 months in state prison on similar charges.

Pennix said in hand-written court papers filed in September that his guilty plea wasn’t made in a “knowing, intelligent and voluntary” act, and that he was scheduled for a pre-trial motions hearing on Sept. 16 when his attorney spoke with the assistant district attorney and came up with a plea agreement.

Pennix is charged in two separate incidents in which he allegedly sold suspected heroin to a police informant.

He said that after consulting with his family, he realized he was not “properly entitled to a fair chance at trial” and wished to withdraw his guilty plea.

Augello said Pennix will be scheduled for the next trial list, which is in November.

Pennix also asked Monday for his attorney to be withdrawn from the case so he can hire a private attorney.

Pennix stated in another set of hand-written court papers on Sept. 30 that he hadn’t met with his court-appointed attorney, Brian Corcoran, at all before he entered the guilty plea and believed there was an “irreconcilable personality conflict.”

Augello denied Pennix’s motion to allow Corcoran to withdraw as his attorney.

Corcoran said Monday he did not agree with the court papers Pennix filed and that Pennix had made allegations against him.

According to court records, on April 16, Pennix met with a police informant on Rutter Avenue behind the Walgreens store.

Police said Pennix, also known as “Hawk,” sold several packets of heroin to a police informant. Two days later, investigators searched the property of Pennix and Clarke, also known as “Class,” who both resided at the Rutter Avenue home.

Investigators found 150 bags of suspected heroin at the residence, which is within 1,000 feet of Wyoming Seminary Upper School.

Police said that the same day as the search Clarke sold suspected crack cocaine to a police informant.

Clarke pleaded guilty to the charges in September and was given credit for time served from April 18 to Nov. 26, 2008. Augello made Clarke eligible for the Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive program, which gives non-violent defendants a chance to get out of jail early, in 18 months.

Pennix was remanded to the State Correctional Institution at Houtzdale, while Clarke was ordered to report to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility on Friday.

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