Police and a prosecutor applaud a plea bargain that will send Angel L. Hensley, the leader of an Arnold-based drug gang, to federal prison for at least 10 years. But they acknowledge that other drug dealers have taken over the void left by her arrest last year.
Hensley will be sentenced to at least 10 years in federal prison for leading a drug conspiracy, according to plea bargain approved Thursday by a federal judge.
Authorities say that Hensley, 27, led a drug ring out of two adjacent houses at 1350 and 1352 Third Ave. in Arnold, one of which she co-owns and the other that she rented.
Federal authorities are attempting to seize both houses.
The case was notable for several reasons:
Hensley pleaded guilty for conspiring to sell almost 87 grams of crack cocaine -- roughly about three ounces -- during a 27-month period.
Federal prosecutor Steve Kaufman told U.S. District Judge David Cercone that he was prepared to show at trial that Hensley was involved in more than a dozen drug sales captured on audio tape.
A co-conspirator already pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing, while three other women are scheduled to go to trial next month.
Hensley also pleaded guilty to selling a pistol to a crack user in Pittsburgh on behalf of her boyfriend, Kyle "Face" Harrison. Harrison pleaded guilty in connection with the gun sale case and is awaiting sentencing. He faces up to 10 years in jail.
Hensley and Harrison were shot at numerous times, according to police.
In September 2000, her house was hit by nine rifle bullets during a weekend in which there were five shootings. During that weekend, one car was shot up in an Arnold alley and a woman was shot in the head, but survived.
Police said Harrison was once slightly wounded by another drug dealer who shot at Hensley in a truck driven by Monica O'Neal, one of the suspects awaiting trial.
Several years earlier, Hensley was charged with attempted homicide for allegedly wounding a man who police said had been kidnapped, been put in a dog cage, had bleach thrown in his face and shot when he escaped, but those charges were dropped when he refused to testify.
Prosecutors said the drug sale conspiracy also involved Hensley's sister, Darlene Hensley, 26, formerly of Rampart Boulevard, Plum; Geraldine D'Argon, 28, formerly of Fourth Avenue, Arnold; O'Neal, 19, formerly of Fifth Avenue, New Kensington; and Latoyia Graves, 21, formerly of Blossom Road, Baldwin.
D'Argon has pleaded guilty to one count of distributing crack cocaine. She is scheduled to be sentenced May 31.
The others are scheduled for trial starting in May.
Charges were dropped against another Hensley sister last summer.
The Hensley drug conspiracy investigation started in 2002 and was cut short by several weeks in March 2004 when police investigated a report that a woman was beaten in the backyard of one of the Third Avenue houses. Darlene Hensley and Graves are charged in Westmoreland County Court in connection with that case.
The drug conspiracy investigation was started by Westmoreland County Detective Terry Kuhns, who didn't return calls for comment.
He later received by help from fellow county detectives, Arnold, New Kensington and state police, and agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck.
Peck said prosecuting Hensley "addresses years of drug trafficking and related violence."
He acknowledged, however, that other drugs groups have moved in since Hensley and the women were arrested last year.
There have been numerous reports of shots fired and several people killed or wounded in the area since Hensley and the others have been jailed.
Arnold Police Chief Joe Doutt said that Hensley facing prison is a "slight consolation to the damage she did" to Arnold and New Kensington.
New Kensington Chief Chuck Korman welcomed Hensley's guilty plea because of the impact her group has had for the past five or six years.
Drug conspiracy carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, but that isn't likely in this case because Hensley has no previous convictions. She could also be fined up to $4.2 million and after she serves her sentence she will be placed on probation for five years, prosecutors said.
There is no minimum sentence for selling the gun, but the maximum sentence is 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
Cercone plans to sentence Hensley on Aug. 4.
The cases brought by Westmoreland County authorities against Hensley were dropped when federal prosecutors took over the case.
