Articles Posted in Drug Charges

Recently, four individuals were arrested in connection with distribution of drugs (namely marijuana) in Alabama. The four individuals are employees of the U.S. Postal Service, and work at three different facilities in Tuscaloosa County. All of those involved are also residents of Tuscaloosa, according to an ABC news article.

The post offices where the four individuals work include one in the downtown area, one in Northpoint, and one on Skyland Boulevard. Those arrested include Jocelin Betts, Lenard Pompey, Quincy Doss, and Manual Johnson. Doss is believed to be the head of the drug trafficking organization. Betts is charged with one count each of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and trafficking marijuana. Pompey is charged with two counts of conspiracy to distribute marijuana; Doss is charged with one count each of trafficking marijuana, attempted distribution of marijuana, attempted possession of marijuana first-degree, and two counts of distribution of marijuana. Johnson is charged with one count each of conspiracy to traffic marijuana, attempted possession of marijuana first-degree, attempted distribution of marijuana, and two counts of distribution of marijuana.

Investigations have been ongoing since late 2014 when agents with the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force discovered Tuscaloosa was being shipped a higher rate of marijuana, and started suspecting employees of the U.S. Postal Service may be involved. The drug distribution scheme is believed to have involved more than 500 lbs. of marijuana. Other agencies assisting in the drug distribution investigation include the FBI – Tuscaloosa office, U.S. Postal Inspectors, and the U.S. Postal service-office of Inspector General. Investigators claim the workers were paid by known drug traffickers who recruited the individuals to facilitate the delivery of the inbound drugs to members of the trafficking organization. Postal employees also allegedly “tipped off” dealers when they were aware law enforcement had been alerted regarding drugs in certain packages, so that the dealers would not accept those packages.

On Tuesday July 21, a search warrant was served by the Cache-Rich Drug Task Force on a home located in Logan, Utah after it was suspected there were illegal drugs in the home located in the area of 300 North and 300 East, according to a news report at HJNews.com.

In all, four individuals were taken to jail. Cameron Sanchez, 21, is believed to be a drug dealer, perhaps the leader of the group of teens who were arrested. Upon executing the search warrant, agents with the drug task force found psilocybin mushrooms, two immature marijuana plants, more then two pounds of cannabis (marijuana), and a substance they referred to as “shatter,” a hard candy like material made from cannabis extract containing THC according to Logan Police Lt. Tyson Budge.

The other three people arrested and booked into the Cache County Jail include Izaya Johnson, 18, Maddison Young, 19, and Samuel Taylor, 19.

On Friday July 17, a 50-year-old man was arrested in the Dallas area following a police chase that resulted in drug charges.

According to The Dallas Morning News crime blog, Jose Lopez led Mesquite police on a car chase after police spotted him near Belt Line Road and U.S. Highway 80 and attempted to stop the drug suspect. Lt. Brian Parrish, a police spokesman for the Mesquite department, said that Lopez fled from police in a pickup, driving to a neighborhood north of Fair Park. During the chase, Lopez jumped from the pickup, which was still moving. The truck crashed into a fence while Lopez ran on foot.

Eventually a Department of Public Safety helicopter tracked Lopez down, and he was apprehended and arrested by police. At the time of news reports he was being held on $12,500 bail, and had been booked on one count each of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance and evading arrest in a vehicle. News reports do not indicate what drug or drugs were involved.

Recently, a 28-year-old Georgia man was arrested in Delaware after police in Bear were conducting property checks  and came across the man as a result of hearing loud music.

According to a news report at Delawareonline.com, Cordeiro McClain of Ellenwood, GA was in the area of the Sparrow Run neighborhood off U.S. 40.  Police officers were conducting increased patrols in specific neighborhoods following their weekly Targeted Analytical Policing Systems meeting.  Officer First Class Tracey Duffy said that as they approached the vehicle, which was parked at a dead end, officers saw that the driver’s seat was empty and McClain was sitting in the front passenger seat.  Another person came out of a nearby residence as police were talking to McClain, claiming the radio in the car was broken.

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On Thursday, July 2, four people were arrested after a search warrant was executed at a residence in Smithfield Township. The search warrant resulted from an investigation that started in 2014, and was executed by Pennsylvania State Police in conjunction with the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office and Monroe County Children and Youth Services, along with Monroe County Domestic Relations.

The four individuals arrested include 48-year-old Denise Miluszewski and her son, 28-year-old William Miluszewski, 45-year-old Richard Leepin, and 29-year-old Donna Wynings.

Denise Miluszewski was reportedly in a rehab facility for an alleged heroin addiction when investigators learned that her son, William, was “running” the drug business while she was in rehab last year. Three young children lived at the address where the search warrant was executed; all have been placed in foster care.

Recently, a 24-year-old woman was shot in her apartment in what was reportedly an attempted home invasion. According to CBS Boston, Jeanette Hardy was shot on June 22; she was treated for injuries that were said not to be life threatening.

When police arrived at the scene, they discovered almost 2,000 grams of heroin in Hardy’s apartment. This discovery led to an investigation involving numerous law enforcement agencies. Over a four-day time period, authorities seized 22 kilograms of heroin and Fentanyl, said to have a street value of more than $2 million.

Three people were arrested; police also seized $226,000 in cash, two vehicles, and four handguns. A manufacturing plant located underground at a home in Lawrence, Mass was also discovered during the investigation. Those involved in the investigation included Manchester, NH police, Massachusetts State Police, and the New England Division of the DEA.

47-year-old Mark Williams, a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper, faces drug charges after he was allegedly observed buying hydrocodone, a narcotic drug, from 64-year-old Elliot Goode, according to a news article at WKRN.com.

Williams was on duty and in uniform when Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents caught him in the act; the investigation had begun earlier in the year. Williams has worked with the Highway Patrol since January of 2004, and was placed on discretionary leave with pay following his arrest. All departmental equipment including badges and weapons were confiscated from Williams, according to state officials.

Williams was assigned to Lauderdale County in his position as a state trooper. He and Goode were booked into the county jail, where Williams was held on $10,000 bond and Goode on $7,500 bond.

On Monday, June 8, a total of 18 individuals were arrested on drug charges in Maryland. 14 of those charged were allegedly involved in an operation in Silver Spring near a housing complex; the other four people charged were accused of trafficking drugs in District Heights in the area of a music studio on Cryden Way, according to a news report at WUSA 9.

The FBI, Prince George’s County police, and Montgomery County police made the announcement on Monday, revealing that 18 had been charged in what they called a “major drug bust.” Authorities arrested the defendants after two indictments returned by a federal grand jury were unsealed. Two businesses and 29 residences were searched, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. The article claims the investigation had been going on for about a year.

One of the indictments charges four individuals with conspiring to distribute heroin and cocaine in the District Heights area. Two of the four, 36-year-old Anthony Niles and 30-year-old Abdul Hakim Sauda, are additionally charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine. Niles is allegedly the “director” of the operation in Prince George’s County.