Lynn man who skipped out on 1999 drug trial arrested

SALEM – A Lynn man who got caught by police texting while driving found himself in jail after authorities learned he had a pending drug case in Salem Superior Court dating back more than a decade.Amin A. Mercedes, 30, of Broadway, Lynn and also of Lawrence, skipped out on a Lynn drug case in 1999 just before trial and has not been seen since.Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Kershenbaum said that Mercedes was recently arrested in Andover on Route 495 after being stopped in a black PT Cruiser by State Police Trooper John McDonald for texting on his cell phone.Mercedes apparently gave a false name to the trooper who pulled him over and provided a license of another individual, said Kershenbaum.Authorities later learned his true identity after taking his fingerprints. They also discovered that Mercedes had a pending drug case in which he defaulted in 1999 out of Salem Superior Court.That case involved a search warrant at a Chatham Street home on Dec. 17, 1998 where police say they discovered 16.43 grams of cocaine on his person, which was within 1,000 feet of the Ingalls Elementary School.Kershenbaum stressed that it “still is a big case” for prosecutors as she asked Judge John T. Lu to hold Mercedes without bail.Defense lawyer Eric Taitano urged the judge to place his client on an ankle bracelet pending trial, saying his client was “in fear” and thought the case had been resolved.”He was afraid of the people involved in the case,” emphasized Taitano.Taitano pointed out that Mercedes was 17 when he defaulted and has lived in Lynn since working the last six years as a chef.But Lu went along with the prosecutor’s request and ordered Mercedes held without bail.The case was continued by agreement to April 15 for a pretrial conference.In the meantime, Mercedes is held at the Middleton Jail without bail.A conviction on the charges of trafficking over 14 grams of cocaine carries a mandatory three-year state prison sentence and the school zone violation carries a two and one-half year penalty.