Lynn man found in violation of probation terms

SALEM – A Lynn man found in violation of his probation terms on trafficking cocaine and burglary charges was sentenced to serve 18 months in jail in Salem Superior Court Wednesday afternoon.Duane S. Collins, 48, of 154 Lynnway, #207, was sent back to jail after Superior Court Judge Howard J. Whitehead determined he had violated his terms of probation from a 1999 Middlesex case, due to a recent arrest on a drug charge out of Peabody.Probation officer Sonia Archer sought the violation, citing his new arrest involving a 2005 Peabody drug case.She testified that Collins had been given a 3-year prison term with five years probation to follow for trafficking cocaine and burglary charges involving a Reading case out of Middlesex County in 1999.At the time of the Peabody arrest, Collins was still on probation from the Middlesex case, Archer said, which is in violation of his probationary terms. Archer felt that Collins, who still awaits trial on the Peabody case, should be sentenced 4-to-6-years in state prison for the violation.Assistant District Attorney Michael A. Patten told Whitehead that the Peabody case stems from his arrest on July 6, 2005 when police discovered 38 grams of cocaine, nearly two ounces, in 34 individual bags in his vehicle when police were conducting an inventory search after Collins was found to be too intoxicated and unable to drive his red Ford Explorer.Patten said police were called to Su-Changs restaurant at 373 Lowell St., a little after 5 p.m. on a report of a drunken and disorderly patron at the bar.Police escorted Collins from the establishment and determined he was too drunk to drive and called a cab, but when Collins refused to leave the parking lot in the cab, police arrested him, Patten said.Before towing Collins? vehicle from the parking lot, police conducted a search and found the cocaine on the passenger?s seat in camera cases.Defense lawyer Russell Sobelman tried to persuade Whitehead not to sentence his client for the violation, but rather to wait until the trial in the Peabody case is completed, hoping for an acquittal of the case, but Whitehead declined.Collins, who had been free on $20,000 cash bail on the Peabody case, is expected to go to trial on the case March 18.