Man allowed to attend son’s funeral

proof in federal detention cases is on the defendant, not the government.

Ross’ lawyer, Linda Cohn, said he’s been sober for more than a year and asked that he be released to a drug recovery house in White Oak pending trial.

Although he owned his own construction business and was able to function, she said he had been a heroin addict for decades ever since he became hooked on opioid painkillers following a back injury.

On the day of the crash, she said, he was “out of his mind” on a combination of methadone,cocaine and heroin.

“He was clearly desperate,” she said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kitchen said that while the government sympathizes with the family for the death of Ross’s son, Ross can’t be trusted to go free considering what he did. He said the chase and crash, in which numerous people could easily have been killed by the speeding dump truck, is a perfect example of why narcotics are prosecuted in the U.S. courts.

“That videotape illustrates a true danger to the community,” he said.

The judge agreed, but asked the U.S. marshals to try to work out an arrangement to let him go from 1 to 10 p.m. to attend his son’s viewing.

After that, he said, he was to be returned to the Allegheny County Jail and held pending trial.