by peter e. bortner
A Shenandoah man will remain behind state prison bars, as the state Supreme Court has declined to hear his appeal of his conviction for selling cocaine twice in his hometown.
In a one-sentence order filed Thursday in Pottsville, the state's highest court refused to consider the appeal of Ruben V. Mendez, 43, who also faces deportation once he completes his prison term.
The order did not contain the reasons why the court did not hear Mendez's appeal.
A Schuylkill County jury convicted Mendez on June 7, 2010, of two counts each of delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia and one of criminal use of a communication facility.
Schuylkill County detectives charged Mendez with selling crack cocaine in Shenandoah on June 5, 2009, and again on June 18, 2009, to undercover officers. In each case, Mendez sold 0.24 grams of crack cocaine for $80, prosecutors said.
Judge John E. Domalakes, who presided over Mendez's one-day trial, sentenced him on Aug. 10, 2010, to serve two to four years in a state correctional institution. Mendez is serving that sentence at SCI/Dallas in Luzerne County.
Additionally, Domalakes said at the sentencing hearing that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer against Mendez, a self-employed contractor from the Dominican Republic, and intends to deport him.
In 2011, a three-judge panel of the state Superior Court upheld Mendez's conviction and sentence.Defendant: Ruben V. Mendez
Age: 43
Residence: Shenandoah
Crimes committed: Two counts each of delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia and one of criminal use of a communication facility
Prison sentence: Two to four years in a state correctional institution