The second man pleaded guilty in the city’s drug trafficking case News, Sports, Work

HOLLYDAYSBURG. The second of three men charged by Altoona police following an investigation into allegations of forced drug use and sex trafficking at a city apartment building has pleaded guilty to drug delivery, criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of illegal proceeds and reckless endangerment.

Jason Oliver, 46, entered a guilty plea in Blair County District Court on Thursday to a sentence of 6.5 to 13 months in prison followed by five years of probation.

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped additional charges, including rape of an unconscious victim, rape of a seriously ill person, kidnapping and sexual assault.

Oliver’s plea deal mirrored that of his co-defendant, 31-year-old Solomon G. Shackelford, of Pittsburgh, filed in December in Blair County District Court. At the time, District Attorney Pete Weeks said he declined to seek conviction of Shackelford on the sexual assault charges because there was no certainty the female victim would be able to testify in court.

President Judge Wade A. Cagarise, who sentenced Shackelford to one to two years in prison followed by five years of probation, also imposed a sentence on Oliver that allowed him to be released from prison.

Kagarise told Oliver that because he had been incarcerated for longer than the maximum portion of his term, he was eligible for parole and would begin probation immediately.

Defense attorney Scott Pletcher told Kagarise that his client is interested in moving to North Carolina and serving his probation there. Kagarise said he has no objection if the arrangements are approved by the Blair County Parole and Probation Office and a supervisory agency in North Carolina.

The charges against Oliver, Shackelford and a third co-defendant, Andre Turner, 43, Altoona, stemmed from an Altoona police investigation into a missing woman report. When police found her in the 600 block of Fifth Street, she was crying and told the officer she didn’t want to suffer anymore.

Police said the woman told of being repeatedly raped, forced to use drugs and forced to perform sexual acts while under the influence of those drugs. She said that she had been to various places, including Taylor’s, from where she escaped.

Police subsequently began monitoring Taylor’s apartment at 1115 13th Avenue and then obtained a search warrant. Evidence collected included a bag of suspected fentanyl, several sheets of bedclothes with suspected body fluids, soiled underwear, drug paraphernalia, a digital video recorder, several cell phones and $2,505 in cash.

Turner, who remains in jail on the same charges Altoona police filed against Oliver and Shackelford, is scheduled to appear in court March 6 for a hearing on his charges.

Mirror staff member Kay Stevens is at 814-946-7456.