A roundup of accused drug dealers in the New Castle area Thursday was part of a larger undercover investigation and a string of arrests extending from Lawrence County to Michigan.
Altogether, federal, state and local officials arrested 19 suspects, 10 of whom are from New Castle. Eight are from the Detroit area and one is from Youngstown. They all have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh for their alleged participation in a large-scale drug trafficking organization operating throughout and between the multi-state regions, according to a news release from the court of U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan.
The one-count indictment charges each defendant with conspiring to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, five kilograms or more of cocaine, 100 grams or more of heroin, and a quantity of oxycodone pills within the past year. The indictment and related search warrants were unsealed Thursday.
The New Castle defendants are:
•Christopher Barton, 24. He additionally is awaiting formal arraignment in the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas for charges of criminal trespass and criminal mischief, filed against him in February by New Castle police.
•Edward Dietrich, 59; past minor offenses.
•Alexis Donnell, 29, arrested on a charge of possession with intent to deliver in a traffic stop in January; and in June of 2021 for providing false identification to police and driving with a suspended license. Both cases are pending in Lawrence County courts. She also has past convictions for simple assault, driving while under suspension, false identification to police and retail theft.
•Kiara Jones, 24, current charges pending for DUI and drug offenses in the Mercer County Court of Common Pleas.
•Kenneth King, 37, no past court history available.
•Marcus Tavion Mason, 32, possession of a controlled substance conviction in 2021.
•Daniel Rasnick, 27, drug-related and fleeing and resisting arrest and littering charges pending in Lawrence County, filed in June; possession with intent to deliver charge pending in Lawrence County, filed on July 25.
•Kendra Sager, 32, charges of possession, false identification and disorderly conduct pending in Lawrence County Central Court and a theft count in common pleas court; past drug-related offenses and trespassing convictions.
•Jauan Searcy, 42, past drug, aggravated assault, weapons and other offense convictions from 2002 and 2016.
•George Wyatt, 61, past drug and DUI convictions from 2015 and 2016.
Prison sentences range from 10 years to life, fines up to $10 million or both.
Lawrence County District Attorney Joshua Lamancusa said the narcotics operation was being led by the FBI. Agents from multiple agencies were serving search warrants and making arrests in multiple areas of Lawrence County on Thursday.
According to the indictment and information provided to the court during the investigation, the defendants operated a drug trafficking organization based in Detroit and New Castle that was responsible for the acquisition of kilograms of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine, also in the form of crack, and other controlled substances including oxycodone, via interstate sources of supply. The organization distributed those drugs to other dealers throughout and beyond Western Pennsylvania, and several members of the group regularly traveled back and forth between New Castle and Detroit to conduct drug activities.
A number of the defendants have extensive criminal records, some stretching back more than 30 years, with offenses that include prior felony drug trafficking and firearms convictions.
A search warrant affidavit reports one of the leaders of the organization, Christian Frierson, was arrested following a traffic stop on Interstate 80 near Nebraska in March. Frierson was driving east from California and was found in possession of a safe containing more than 1,000 grams of fentanyl and nearly 250 grams of heroin. Frierson was released on bond, but the affidavit claims he promptly resumed drug trafficking activities between Detroit and New Castle.
Agents used confidential informants, phone surveillance and wiretaps to gather evidence and determine locations of “trap houses,” or drug processing and distribution locations, in New Castle.
“This conspiracy involved a tight-knit network of family and friends — many of whom previously have been convicted of felony drug and firearms crimes — who allegedly trafficked large quantities of lethal narcotics, like fentanyl and heroin, between Detroit and Western Pennsylvania, supplying them to other dealers along the way,” Olshan said.
“Multi-state and multi-jurisdictional operations like what took place Thursday show the FBI and our partners stand shoulder to shoulder when it comes to keeping this poison out of communities everywhere,” said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek.“The message to those who want to peddle illegal drugs and guns is clear: we will not stand idle while our neighborhoods are held hostage by crime.”
The investigation was a joint operation conducted by the FBI, federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Lawrence County Drug Task Force, New Castle Police Department, Michigan State Police, Pennsylvania State Police, the Mercer County Drug Task Force, The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Douglas County, Nebraska, sheriff’s office. The
An indictment is an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty by trial or adjudication in court.
dwachter@ncnewsonline.com
