NEW CASTLE Store operator in jail on drug charges

Issa Haddad will likely be deported after he serveshis prison term.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A convenience store operator was sentenced to spend the next five to 10 years in state prison on drug charges.
Issa Haddad, 44, of Mercer Road, Neshannock Township, who operated The Cruise-In Food Mart on East Washington Street with his brother, Eddie Fawzi Haddad, was sentenced Monday in common pleas court by Judge J. Craig Cox.
He was convicted by a Lawrence County jury March 15 of two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, one count of delivery of a controlled substance and three counts of criminal conspiracy. The controlled substance was OxyContin, a powerful prescription painkiller often given to terminal cancer patients.
Prosecutor's initially contended that they wanted an extra two years added to his sentence because the drugs were sold within 1,000 feet of Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School, but Judge Cox said those guidelines would apply only if his mandatory minimum sentence were less than two years.
Haddad was also ordered to pay court costs, $15,000 in fines and $585 to the Pennsylvania State Police who supplied an expert witness at his trial and did drug testing.
'All of this lying'
Despite the conviction, Haddad professed his innocence at sentencing.
"I've never taken drugs or given drugs. It bothers me inside because of all of this lying," he told the judge.
Prosecutors contended that Haddad and his brother sold OxyContin to a confidential police informant Nov. 12-13, 2000.
Eddie Haddad pleaded guilty to drug charges in February and was sentenced to 10 years of county probation with the specific condition that he be deported. He is now living in Canada.
Eddie Haddad, however, has asked to withdraw that plea because he claims his attorney, Carmen Lamancusa, had a conflict of interest. Lamancusa represented both brothers in court. A hearing is set for Aug. 1 in that matter.
Lamancusa said Issa Haddad, who is a Canadian citizen, will likely be deported once he finishes his prison sentence.