Court Rejects Appeal In Undercover Drug Buy Case

OCEAN CITY — In essentially what boiled down to a possession versus distribution issue, a state appeals court this week denied a request for a mistrial in a case involving an illegal drug sale to an undercover police officer on the Boardwalk.

On June 15, 2018, Dashawn Coward, now 21, of Pottsville, Pa., and Sean Dotson, 19, of Pottsville, approached an Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) undercover narcotics detective on the Boardwalk and asked the officer if he was interested in buying cocaine. OCPD undercover detectives agreed and followed Coward and Dotson off the Boardwalk to complete the sale.

According to the accepted facts in the case, Coward reached into his pants and produced two vials of cocaine, which he handed to Dotson. Dotson then handed to vials of cocaine to the undercover detective in exchange for the agreed-upon $80. Coward was arrested later that night and was charged with possession and distribution of cocaine.

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