BLAIR COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Roaring Spring man was sentenced Tuesday to serve multiple decades in prison after he pleaded guilty to trafficking a large amount of meth into Blair County in 2021.
Jayme Walter, 43, was sentenced to serve a minimum of 32 years to a maximum of 64 years of incarceration followed by 12 months consecutive probation, according to Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks.
Walter was arrested on Aug. 26, 2021, after he and a woman were pulled over by police during a traffic stop. During a search of their vehicle, 6 pounds of meth, a quarter pound of cocaine, and a large amount of heroin and fentanyl laced with xylazine were seized.
Altoona police officers and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office learned that Walter was transporting a large shipment of drugs from Allentown to Altoona to be distributed.
Weeks said Walter has been committing felony drug trafficking and manufacturing offenses since 2002 and also served periods of county and state prison sentences between 2002 and 2021. He added Walter’s sentence was consistent with the Commonwealth’s requested sentence and recognizes his refusal to change his behavior over the last 20 years.
“Too often drug offenses are trivialized at sentencing even though the use and sale of drugs within our community is directly related to the vast majority of crime within our community,” Weeks said. “The District Attorney’s Office is grateful for the dedication and work of the Altoona Police Department and Attorney General’s Office in their ongoing fight to keep the Blair County community safe and that the court imposed a sentence that will ensure the protection of the community.”
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During court proceedings, the Commonwealth struggled to select a jury on three separate occasions as Walter had outbursts that disrupted two prior sessions, according to Weeks. Walter was also reportedly disruptive during his first scheduled jury trial and was held in contempt by the court multiple times.
He pleaded guilty to all his charges on the morning of the trial.