SAXONBURG — Prosecutors changed charges related to stolen guns against a Butler man who also was involved in the Jan. 18 shooting at the Clearview Mall in Center Township.

Damian J. Blystone, 19, appeared for two preliminary hearings Wednesday before District Judge Sue Haggerty. Blystone arrived from Butler County Prison, where he is being held without bond on a separate case connected to the mall shooting.

Blystone, who pleaded guilty to all charges, saw some charges reduced or dismissed Wednesday.

“In totality across the two cases, he’s in a substantially better position than he was before,” said Blystone’s attorney, Jacob Wyland, following the hearings.

In both cases, Blystone was charged with one felony count of prohibited ownership of a firearm, which assumes he was convicted of a crime in the past that would make it illegal for him to possess a gun.

Assistant District Attorney David Beichner said he reviewed Blystone’s criminal record, and he changed the charge to felony carrying a gun without a license. The change downgraded the felony from a second-degree to a third-degree offense.

There were no other changes in the first case, and Haggerty moved all charges to the Butler County Common Pleas Court.

In that case, Blystone is accused of being found with a bag of stolen guns at his feet during a traffic stop. He is charged with two felony counts of possessing stolen property, one felony count carrying a gun without a license and misdemeanor possessing a small amount of marijuana.

In his testimony, Middlesex Township police Officer Bryan Costanzo elaborated on a few details in the case. Costanzo said he saw the driver climb into the back seat, and when he arrived, he recognized him.

“I had seen Blystone’s mugshot in the Butler Eagle,” Costanzo said. “I just knew his face, not his name.”

Costanzo said when looking closer at Blystone, he saw a bag “right at his feet,” slightly open, with the handle of a pistol sticking out. He said he called for backup and asked the three people in the car to get out.

Costanzo said the first person out of the back passenger-side seat was Charles L. Bassett, 60, of Butler, who waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday. He is charged with felony carrying a gun without a license and possessing stolen property. Bassett remains in jail on $20,000 bond.

Costanzo said next a juvenile boy exited the front passenger-side seat. According to charging documents, bullets were found in the boy’s pocket. The boy has been charged with the same crimes.

“Nobody claimed ownership of anything in the vehicle,” Costanzo said.

Costanzo noted that Blystone made some movements while he was talking and searching the boy.

“Mr. Blystone had his hands in his pockets,” he said.

Costanzo said when Blystone exited, he was searched and found with nine .22 caliber bullets that were loose in his pockets. Costanzo said the bag was then removed by assisting Penn Township police. Costanzo said inside were two .22-caliber pistols and a BB gun.

“I knew the guns were stolen,” said Costanzo, who works part-time for the Penn Township department, which reported the guns stolen from a township resident.

Costanzo said a third gun was found during a later, court-approved search of the vehicle. Another 9mm pistol was found, and was also reported stolen by Penn Township police.

Expressing satisfaction with the reduced charge in the case, Wyland made no further arguments in the first case.

Details of the first case bled into the second case in which Blystone is accused of possessing stolen guns.

An 18-year-old man named Christian Conner testified Tuesday that he delivered the stolen guns to Blystone as part of a trade. Conner said the trade was between Blystone and another person.

According to the lead investigator, Officer Alyssa Matthews, that person is a juvenile boy, and he has been charged with stealing the guns in the first place.

Conner said after getting the guns, he brought them to a Renfrew junkyard along Old Creek Road.

"I did not plan on participating in this,“ Conner said. ”I did not exchange them for anything else. I gave them to him.“

Conner said Blystone took two of three guns he was meant to deliver. The third was a .38 Special, but Blystone refused it.

“He didn’t want it,” Conner said.

Regarding the .38 Special, Blystone is charged with altering the serial number. During his testimony, Conner said he did not notice the serial number at the time.

Matthews, who testified after Conner, said when she found the .38 Special, the serial number had been “obliterated.” Matthews said she tied that charge to Blystone based on an interview with Conner during her investigation.

Wyland objected to extended hearsay in Matthews’ testimony. He said prosecutors were relying on second- and third-hand information. He said Conner could have answered the question when he was on the stand first.

“I don’t know what the source of the information is,” Wyland said. “This is way out there.”

Beichner rescinded the line of questioning and noted to Haggerty that “at this time” prosecutors have only hearsay to prove that offense.

As a result, Haggerty dismissed the felony charge of altering a serial number, but she moved forward all other charges, which include four felony counts of possessing stolen property and two felony counts of carrying a gun without a license.

Wyland said moving forward, he believes Blystone has a good defense on all of the charges.

“Here at the preliminary level, some evidence was admitted I don’t think will hold up at trial,” Wyland said. “He’s got a great family support, so we’re going to zealously defend Mr. Blystone in all three cases.”

The third case Wyland refers to is one filed by state police in the aftermath of the shooting. Police accused Blystone of threatening the alleged shooter, Carlos Gonzalez Carril, before shots were fired.

Blystone appeared for a preliminary hearing Tuesday before District Judge Lewis Stoughton, who moved forward all charges and doubled down on the lack of bond, which he revoked after the stolen gun charges were filed.