Tarentum man wanted for parole violation arrested in New Kensington on gun, drug charges

Authorities say a Tarentum man wanted for a parole violation was arrested on felony gun and drug charges in New Kensington after narcotics agents say he engaged in a drug transaction last month.

Christopher James McClinton, 27, of the 300 block of East Eighth Avenue in Tarentum was charged by New Kensington police with felony counts of illegal possession of a firearm, having a gun with an altered serial number, possession of drugs with the intent to deliver, and a count of drug possession.

Court records show that McClinton was being detained in the Fayette County jail in lieu of a $50,000 cash bond. He faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. on Friday, Sept. 29, according to court records.

According to McClinton’s arrest papers, agents from the state Attorney General’s Office and officers from New Kensington and the Westmoreland County Drug Task Force were conducting a narcotics surveillance detail in the 1100 block of Fifth Avenue on Aug. 12 when they saw McClinton get out of a Jeep Compass with three men.

Investigators said they were aware that McClinton was wanted for violating parole as they watched him go into a nearby building.

They said he was wearing a black Adidas hooded sweatshirt when he went inside but didn’t have it on when he left the building and was taken into custody, the complaint said.

Police said McClinton told them that he had some “shrooms,” or hallucinogenic mushrooms, in his possession but declined to provide police with additional information, the complaint said. The mushrooms were confiscated when he was searched before being placed in a holding cell, police said.

Investigators said agents who knocked on the door of the apartment McClinton had visited spotted a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine on a sofa next to the black Adidas sweatshirt he had been wearing, the complaint said.

After telling the occupants that McClinton had been arrested they give police written permission to search the home, according to the complaint.

Police found a bag of crystal with more than an ounce of crystal methamphetamine along with a bag of marijuana and ammunition for a .9mm handgun, according to the complaint.

Police said the serial number on the .9mm Glock 19X pistol that was confiscated had been altered.

McClinton is not permitted to possess a handgun because of previous criminal convictions, according to authorities.

Court records show that he pleaded guilty in April 2018 to felony counts of conspiracy and drug possession filed by state police in Greensburg. He was sentenced to two to four years in prison.

During the same court appearance, McClinton pleaded guilty to two felony counts of robbery and a felony count of illegal possession of a handgun that were filed by New Kensington police in September 2016, according to court documents.