November 19, 2015- Commonwealth v Kenynn Pattillo:  On November 19, 2015, Kenynn Pattillo appeared before the Dauphin County Judge John F. Cherry and pleaded guilty to all charges on each of his four pending cases.  Pattillo was ultimately sentenced to serve an aggregate term of 18 months’ probation, to contact and apply with the Dauphin County Case Management Unit, to undergo a psychological evaluation and follow any recommended treatment, to undergo a Drug and Alcohol Evaluation and follow any recommended treatment, and to obtain full-time employment.

First, Pattillo pleaded guilty to charges of Possession of a Small Amount of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Disorderly Conduct; these charges were docketed at CP-22-CR-2813-2015.  Factually, on December 31, 2014, around 10:00 p.m., officers stopped a vehicle in the Harrisburg Train Station for driving erratically and almost striking parked vehicles and curbs.  Pattillo was identified as the passenger in the vehicle.  Given the erratic driving, officers felt alcohol or other narcotics may have been consumed, so they requested a Harrisburg police officer conduct an exterior sniff search of the vehicle with the officer’s K-9 partner.  The K-9 alerted to the driver’s door and to the passenger door.  Given the alerts, officers conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle and found a sandwich bag of marijuana under the passenger seat and multiple burnt marijuana cigarettes in the ash tray of the vehicle.  Pattillo did admit that the marijuana found was his.

 Second, Pattillo pleaded guilty to charges of Open Lewdness, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Public Drunkenness; these charges were docketed at CP-22-CR-4900-2015.  Factually, on April 20, 2015, around 9:50 p.m., Harrisburg City Police were dispatched to the intersection of Derry Street and 14th Street for a male standing in the street completely naked and screaming.  When officers responded they observed Pattillo completely naked, with his hands raised in the air, and with his head raised towards the sky.  Pattillo complied with officers’ commands to sit down and speak with them.  Once officers attempted to take Pattillo into custody he began pulling his arms away and resisting the officers attempts.  Once Pattillo was finally detained and secured, officers learned from witnesses that earlier they observed Pattillo stripping his clothes off and running into the street.  Witnesses escorted the officers to where Pattillo stripped and officers found his clothes in that location.  Among Pattillo’s items were multiple bags of synthetic marijuana.

Third, Pattillo pleaded guilty to charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Disorderly Conduct, and Public Drunkenness; these charges were docketed at CP-22-CR-4931-2015.  Factually, on July 3, 2015, around 7:40 p.m., in the area of S. 17th and Paxton Streets in Harrisburg, officers observed Pattillo running into traffic on Paxton Street and stopping vehicles and yelling at them.  Pattillo was subsequently detained and found to be in possession of synthetic marijuana.  Given the effects of the synthetic marijuana, Pattillo was out of control and had to be carried and placed inside of the Harrisburg transport van and taken to Harrisburg Hospital for a suspected overdose.  Once at the hospital, Pattillo had to be placed in four-point restraints as he was very aggressive and continued to yell.

Finally, Pattillo pleaded guilty to charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; these charges were docketed at CP-22-CR-5184-2015.  Factually, on July 27, 2015, Harrisburg City police officers were dispatched to Pattillo’s residence to conduct a welfare check after family members reported the Defendant was high on synthetic marijuana.  When officers arrived they observed Pattillo running in the area.  Pattillo was subsequently detained and was found in possession of a bag of synthetic marijuana. 

Following his last arrest, and after Pattillo failed to appear for several court dates, he was placed on pre-trial supervision with a condition that he be placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring.  This occurred on October 8, 2015.  From October 9, 2015, up until November 19, 2015, Pattillo was extremely cooperative with pre-trial and complied with all of their conditions.  As such, Judge Cherry sentenced Pattillo to continue with his treatment and to serve 18  months’ of county probation.

This case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Andrew J. Jarbola.  Jarbola said the following regarding this case:  “This case really goes to show you the profound effects synthetic marijuana has on users.  In this case alone, Pattillo​ was observed under the influence multiple times running in traffic and engaging in dangerous behavior.  We have also seen a tremendous increase in synthetic marijuana use and synthetic marijuana overdoses.  Hopefully, the sentences imposed by Judge Cherry, along with the stringent probation conditions combined with the great work already done by Dauphin County Pre-Trial Services, will allow Pattillo​ to rehabilitate himself and his addiction and help him transition into being a productive member of society.”