PENNSYLVANIA Supreme Court denies appeal in 2 drug cases

Issa Haddad faces deportation after serving his prison sentence.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A man's request to appeal his 2002 jury conviction and sentences in two drug cases has been denied by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Lawrence County District Attorney Matthew Mangino said the court announced May 13 that it would not hear Issa George Haddad's case. In Pennsylvania, there is no automatic right to criminal appeal to the state's Supreme Court, except in death penalty cases.
What happened
According to Mangino, Haddad was found guilty in March 2002 for illegally selling oxycodone, the generic form of OxyContin, out of a New Castle convenience store he and his brother operated on East Washington Street.
Haddad was convicted of all charges, including two felony counts of possession with intent to deliver. He was sentenced to five to 10 years in a state correctional institution and ordered to pay court costs, $15,000 in fines and $585 in restitution to Pennsylvania State Police.
Haddad appealed his conviction and sentences to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in 2002. The court's decision was it saw "no reason to disturb the verdict," Mangino said.
Haddad, a Jordanian native and naturalized citizen of Canada, was staying in the United States illegally at the time of his arrest. He faces deportation once he's paroled. He is now imprisoned at the Laurel Highlands State Correctional Institution in Somerset, Pa.