A Schuylkill County man sent to state prison this year to serve time on three separate cases is now facing drug and theft charges after police allegedly caught him stealing bags of coal outside a Pottsville home in March. Police say they later found fentanyl, cocaine, and prescription pills in his vehicle.
Thomas Kelly, 41, of Pottsville, was charged earlier this month following an incident at approximately 1 a.m. on March 3 in the 700 block of Howard Ave. Officers responded to the area after a resident reported a man in a dark hoodie taking bags of coal from the front of her property.
As they arrived at the scene, police say they found Kelly in the act of loading bags of coal into his pickup truck and placed him into custody. Officers informed Kelly that the owner had observed the incident and called the authorities. According to police, Kelly claimed an acquaintance had given him permission to take the coal. However, the victim told officers she was the owner of the coal, did not know the person Kelly named, and had not given anyone permission to take the coal.
In the bed of Kelly’s truck, police located eight bags of coal, which the owner stated were worth roughly $10 per bag. Police reported seeing yellow Ziploc baggies containing a powdered substance in plain view on the driver’s seat. After Kelly granted officers permission to search the vehicle, police located an additional yellow baggie containing two white pills and a blue capsule labeled “RX693.”
Police released Kelly at the scene and informed him that charges would be filed by mail while the seized items were sent for testing. On Aug. 18, State Police lab results confirmed that 0.38 grams of powder in one yellow baggie tested positive for fentanyl and cocaine, while 0.18 grams of pills in another yellow baggie tested positive for lorazepam.
Kelly is charged with three misdemeanor counts of intentional possession of a controlled substance, one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, one second-degree misdemeanor count of theft by unlawful taking, and one second-degree misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property.
A preliminary hearing in this case is scheduled for Oct. 12 before Magisterial District Judge James Reiley.
Kelly is also facing theft, loitering, and trepass charges for an incident in Cass Township. A preliminary hearing before Judge Christian Lengel is set for Oct. 29. Numerous other charges await Kelly including those for an incident in which he allegedly attacked a woman at a home in Norwegian Township. Though aggravated assault charges against him were dismissed, Kelly was allegedly found with fraudulent state inspection stickers. That case is pending in Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas.
In May, Kelly was remanded to SCI-Camp Hill on charges in three separate cases in which he entered guilty pleas. Charges ranged from burglary and retail theft to providing false identification to law enforcement. He’s serving a sentence of 1-4 years.
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