A jury didn’t believe a Buffalo man’s litany of excuses and convicted him of second degree criminal possession of a controlled substance following an eight-day trial.
David Carey was out on parole in May 2013 when he absconded and was tracked to a home on Amherst Street. The 34-year-old jumped out a second floor window to flee officers, but was caught. A search uncovered cocaine hidden under the bed Carey had been sleeping in.
Carey claimed during his trial that he absconded from parole to live with his girlfriend, though there was nothing barring him from do so. He also said the cocaine wasn’t his, even though his DNA was on the packaging.
The owner of the home left town at the start of the trial. Carey was recorded in jailhouse phone conversations telling her to do so because she is a witness for the prosecution. During the trial, he said his conversation with her had nothing to do with the fact she was no longer in Western New York.
Carey has five prior misdemeanor convictions and prior felony convictions for robbery, weapons possession and narcotics possession.
When he is sentenced in February, he faces a maximum term of 17 years in prison.
