State and Butler County law enforcement officials hope they have broken a vital link in the heroin supply chain to the county.
A sweep by law enforcement officials netted 40 suspected street-level heroin and crack cocaine dealers, state Attorney General Mike Fisher said Tuesday.
Of the 40 suspects, 31 had been arrested Tuesday afternoon. The remaining nine already were in jail, out of state or were planning to turn themselves in, said Leo O'Neill, Attorney General's Office district director.
Because search warrants were not issued, the amount of drugs confiscated was small, O'Neill said.
Eight of the suspects had Allegheny County addresses, one was from Ohio and one had an unknown address. The remaining suspects were from Butler County. Most were charged with at least one count of possession with intent to deliver heroin.
All suspects are facing felony charges, Fisher said. But some could be released on bail today, O'Neill said.
The sweep came after a three-month joint investigation into heroin dealing by several southern Butler County municipal police departments, the Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, officers of the Butler County Drug Task Force and Pennsylvania State Police troopers.
Fisher said Butler County District Attorney Timothy McCune requested the assistance of the Attorney General's Office because there have been 14 heroin-related deaths in the county since 2001, seven since January.
Fisher, who is the Republican gubernatorial candidate, said the joint investigation focused on heroin sales in Butler City, Butler Township, Cranberry Township and Zelienople. Fisher said confidential informants and undercover agents made heroin buys from the suspects.
McCune said the investigation is continuing and officials are optimistic that many suspects will disclose the names of suppliers.
Butler County Detective Pat Cannon, who heads the county's Drug Task Force, said the removal of 40 dealers from the streets will have a larger impact on the flow of drugs into Butler County than the bust of a higher level dealer.
Yesterday's arrests will remove "a customer base from (the Pittsburgh suppliers)," he explained.
Cannon said street-level dealers move as much as 200 single-dose "stamps" of heroin weekly at $20 to $30 per stamp.
"There is a significant profit motive for many of these dealers," Cannon said. "To the best of my knowledge, everyone of these suspects is also an addict."
McCune said this was a difficult investigation because it did not involve just one dealer working out of a central location.
"This was more like tentacles reaching into Butler County," McCune said. "It is a little more difficult to investigate and prosecute because it is more manpower intensive."
Butler Township police Chief Gary Garman said five officers from his department participated in various stages of the investigation.
"If they needed officers for surveillance, drug buys or intelligence gathering, we would donate our services," Garman said. "Hopefully, we can use this as a stepping stone — get some intelligence — and knock off the next level. There are a lot of drugs in the area."
Police from Butler City and Buffalo, Butler, Cranberry, Middlesex and Penn townships and Evans City, Slippery Rock and Zelienople borough assisted in the investigation. Officers from the Pennsylvania State Police, the Butler County Sheriff's Department and Butler County Detectives also participated.
Fisher said the Butler County Drug Task Force , which receives funding from the Attorney General's Office, was established to conduct investigations of street-level drug dealers.
"We felt the number of deaths directly attributable to heroin made it important to bring in additional forces and funds to come in and do this job," Fisher said. "The lesson is if you deal heroin, people are out there looking for you, and eventually you will be arrested."
The suspects were scheduled to be arraigned yesterday before District Justice Joseph O'Donnell at the Cranberry Township police headquarters.
| 40 charged in Butler County drug sweep |
Earl Lee Saunders, 20, Jacksonia Street, Pittsburgh: Two counts each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
George Mitchell, 19, Woods Run Avenue, Pittsburgh: Four counts each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Clarence Sutton, 54, Boyle Street, Pittsburgh: Two counts each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Andrew Lucas, 22, West Boyd Avenue, Butler: Two counts of possession with intent to deliver heroin, one count of delivery of heroin, two counts of possession of heroin, one count of possession with intent to use paraphernalia and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.
Adam Christy, 22, Miller Street, Butler: One count each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin, possession of heroin and criminal use of a communication facility.
Jamie McKinley, 23, Park Lane, Fenelton: One count each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Christopher Hughes, 20, Beacon Road, Renfrew: One count each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Jon Slupe, 22, Pleasantview Avenue, Butler: One count each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Jeffery E. West, 22, Muldoon Road, Butler: One count each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Steven Saeler, 44, Greenwood Gardens, Butler: Two counts each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Kaelen Jurecko, 20, Warrendale: One count each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, possession of heroin and criminal conspiracy.
Steven Purvis, 19, Callery: One count each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Sara Marscherz, 20, North Main Street, Zelienople: One count each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Jeremias Mueller, 21, Nelson Lane, Zelienople: Three counts each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Frank McInerney, 50, Walnut Street, Zelienople: One count each of possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine, delivery of crack cocaine and possession of crack cocaine.
Margaret Schaefer, 49, Evergreen Mill Road, Harmony: One count each of possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine, delivery of crack cocaine and possession of crack cocaine.
Joseph Battle, 21, East Liverpool, Ohio: One count each of possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine, delivery of crack cocaine, possession of crack cocaine and criminal conspiracy.
Ronald Schleiden, 33, Gebhart Street, Pittsburgh: Two counts each of possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine, delivery of crack cocaine and possession of crack cocaine.
Timothy Miller, 19, Wahl Avenue, Evans City: One count each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin, possession of heroin, theft of official funds, receiving stolen property; and three counts of criminal conspiracy.
Amanda Miller, 22, Wahl Avenue, Evans City: One count each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin, possession of heroin; and three counts of criminal conspiracy.
Justin Herp, 23, Butler County Prison: One count of possession with intent to deliver cocaine, delivery of cocaine and possession of cocaine.
Jason Bartolezzi, 22, Thoroughbred Court, Allison Park: Two counts each of possession with intent to deliver cocaine, delivery of cocaine, possession of cocaine; and nine counts of criminal conspiracy.
Kristy Knichel, 25, Thoroughbred Court, Allison Park: Two counts each of possession with intent to deliver cocaine, delivery of cocaine, possession of cocaine; and nine counts of the criminal conspiracy.
Cameron McCready, 19, Alsop Road, Pittsburgh: Two counts each of possession with intent to deliver a noncontrolled substance, delivery of a noncontrolled substance, possession of such a substance; and six counts of criminal conspiracy.
Melissa Smith, address unknown: Two counts each of possession with intent to deliver a noncontrolled substance, delivery of noncontrolled substance, possession of noncontrolled substance; and six counts of criminal conspiracy.
Lorraine Conley, 40, Hansen Avenue, Butler: One count each of possession with intent to deliver placebo pills believed to be OxyContin, possession; and two counts of criminal conspiracy.
John P. Conley, 46, Hansen Avenue, Butler: One count each of possession with intent to deliver placebo pills, possession; and two counts of criminal conspiracy.
Ronald McKivigan, 42, Roosevelt Boulevard, Butler: One count each of possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine and possession of crack cocaine.
Amber Fair, 23, West Cunningham Street, Butler: One count each of delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
James Cogley, 24, West Cunningham Street, Butler: One count each of delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Dennis E. Giles, 27, Cecilia Street, Butler: One count each of delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Mark Branch, 23, Greenview Gardens, Butler: One count each of possession of firearms and possession of marijuana.
Harry Herko Jr., 25, West Cunningham Street, Butler: One count each of delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
Brian Walsh, 19, St. Joe Road, Butler: One count each of possession with intent to deliver heroin, delivery of heroin; and two counts of possession of heroin.
Tina Winters, 25, South Chestnut Street, Butler: One count of conspiracy to deliver heroin.
Patrick A. Winters, 33, South Chestnut Street, Butler: One count each of delivery of heroin and possession of heroin.
William Mellish, 30, Herman Road, Herman: One count each of delivery of heroin, possession of heroin and conspiracy to deliver heroin.
Charles Lloyd, 24, Pittsburgh Road, Butler: One count each of delivery of heroin, possession of heroin and conspiracy to deliver heroin.
Seth Bartmus, 19, Alpine Lane, Butler: One count of possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia.
Robbie Brown, 26, West Boyd Avenue, Butler: One count of possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia.
