Man pleads guilty to slapping toddler, selling fentanyl

Ed Lewis, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·1 min read
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Sep. 28—WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County prosecutors withdrew a felony aggravated assault count against a Philadelphia man, who pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault for slapping the face of a 2-year-old.

Zaheem Abdul Smith, 28, known as "Skee Brim," was accused by Wilkes-Barre police of injuring the toddler on July 28, 2021.

Smith was scheduled for a jury trial this week before Judge David W. Lupas until prosecutors announced the plea agreement.

Lupas accepted the plea agreement that also includes an unrelated case of delivering fentanyl in Pittston when he lived on Williams Street in December 2021.

According to the criminal complaints:

A city police officer responded to a day care center on North Pennsylvania Avenue on July 31, 2021, when a caseworker from Luzerne County Children & Youth Services needed assistance.

Police said the caseworker was at the day care center to investigate how a 2-year-old boy suffered a bruise on his face. The bruise was in the form of a hand, the complaint says.

The boy's mother claimed her son was an aggressive toddler and enjoyed "play fighting."

Police learned the child was in the care of Smith while the mother was at work. A witness observed the bruise on the toddler's face prior to the boy being taken to the day care center, the complaint says.

Pittston police in court records say Smith was peddling fentanyl in December 2021 and January 2022.

Lupas said he will sentence Smith on Nov. 29.

Assistant District Attorney Susan Luckenbill prosecuted.

Attorney Joseph Yeager represented Smith.