Cocaine

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Pennsylvania State Police on Tuesday said drug-trafficking charges had been filed against five people as a result of joint investigations by the state police Vice Unit and Franklin County Drug Task Force. Ronald Lacy, age and address unavailable, of Marlowe, W.Va., and Dale "Mike" Mooney, age and address unavailable, both have been charged with several counts each of delivery of cocaine, criminal use of a communication facility and criminal conspiracy to deliver cocaine, police said.

A New York City man who ducked out of a court hearing in February was back Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court, where a jury convicted him of cocaine distribution. Eric Christopher Smallwood, 34, also was convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. The jury deliberated less than two hours after a full day of testimony before Circuit Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr., who deferred sentencing until a presentence report is completed.

A grandmother with no previous criminal record pleaded guilty Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to two years in state prison. "You don't have a lot of experience as a drug dealer, and you're not very good at it," Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. said as he sentenced Jocelyn L. Bryant, 54, to six years in prison with four years suspended. Bryant, formerly of 659 Pennsylvania Ave., Hagerstown, said she came here from New Jersey to be with her daughter and grandchildren, but found herself homeless and needing money.

A man on home detention was arrested this week on allegations that he and a woman were selling drugs from their home, according to Washington County District Court records. Asaler L. Pointer, 41, and Tiffany Ann Mowery, 31, of 13813 Village Mill Drive, were arrested Monday after Washington County Narcotics Task Force agents conducted a search of the house. The search was based on sales of cocaine to a confidential informant, the statement of probable cause said. Pointer and Mowery each are charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, criminal conspiracy to distribute cocaine, maintaining a common nuisance for the distribution of narcotics, cocaine possession and firearms violations.

HAGERSTOWN -- A Hagerstown woman whose attorney said she sold crack cocaine to buy Halloween costumes for her children was sentenced Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court to four years in prison. Kesha Jean Russ, 33, of 1004 H Noland Drive, pleaded guilty May 27 to criminal conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, according to court records. In exchange for her plea, the state did not prosecute her on charges of distribution of cocaine, possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia, court records show.

After a brief deliberation, a Washington County Circuit Court jury this week found a Baltimore man not guilty of distribution of cocaine. Aaron Cole, 29, also was acquitted Tuesday of possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Before the jury began deliberating, Judge Daniel P. Dwyer granted a defense motion to dismiss a criminal conspiracy charge. The Washington County Narcotics Task Force charged Cole following a controlled purchase of cocaine on Dec. 6, 2010, in the 400 block of Park Place, according to the statement of probable cause.

A Washington County Circuit Court judge Tuesday sentenced a woman with a previous narcotics-distribution conviction to seven years in prison after she pleaded guilty to distribution of crack cocaine. "You could be a poster child here today for the devastation that drug abuse" causes individuals and families, Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. told Trina Elizabeth Earl, 50, of Hagerstown. He sentenced her to 15 years, but suspended eight years of the sentence. "I lost my home and all my possessions.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., man convicted by a jury in April of possession with intent to distribute cocaine resulting from a traffic stop on Interstate 81 was sentenced Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to 15 years in state prison. Judge John H. McDowell sentenced Garette Edgar Kearse to 15 years, but suspended six years of the sentence. Because Kearse was in possession of more than 28 grams of cocaine, Robert Veil, the supervising state's attorney for the Washington County Narcotics Task Force, argued that Kearse's sentence should include having to serve five years without being eligible for parole.

Four people, including a Hagerstown man, have been charged in a two-county drug investigation that involved more than 3,000 grams of cocaine and nearly $40,000 in cash, police said Wednesday. Geoffrey Roderick Venkus, of Hagerstown, was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of paraphernalia, according to a Frederick County Narcotics Task Force news release. Police armed with a warrant on Monday searched a hotel room where Venkus was staying in the Buckeystown Pike area of Frederick and found 700 grams of cocaine, a small amount of marijuana and $12,385, the release said.

A jury took five minutes in March to find Edgar Sayles guilty of distribution of cocaine, a conviction that resulted in a 40-year mandatory sentence Friday in Washington County Circuit Court. Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. sentenced Sayles, 41, to 40 years without parole, an enhanced mandatory sentence due to his previous drug-crime convictions. The former Hagerstown resident had been charged by the Washington County Narcotics Task Force with selling crack cocaine to a confidential informant in April and May 2011, according to charging documents.

A reported stabbing early Friday led Martinsburg police to a West Race Street apartment where they found 113 grams of crack cocaine and about $11,300, the police department announced. The investigation ultimately led to the discovery of a stolen AK-47 semi-automatic rifle and a stolen shotgun, and ammunition found in the storage unit in Berkeley County, police said. The name of a man who was treated at City Hospital in Martinsburg for a knife wound on his neck was not released by police, pending further investigation.

Police seized more than 14 grams of cocaine and $2,250 in cash from a Hagerstown man in Martinsburg Tuesday after he was stopped by an officer for allegedly failing to obey a traffic signal, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. Mark C. Williams, 32, of Broadfording Road, was arraigned by Magistrate Robert L. Lowe II on one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, according to court documents. Police found three bundles of cash totaling $535 in the center console of the vehicle, $15 in his wallet and $1,700 in his left front pants pocket, police said.

A preliminary hearing for a Summit Point, W.Va., man on charges of possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine is scheduled for April 5 at 11 a.m. before Jefferson County Magistrate M.P. Rissler, according to court records. Julio Cesar Torres, 34, of 472 Shirley Road, was arrested March 18 during an investigation of the theft of a flat-screen television from a residence and a power tool from Lowe's, court records said. Police said they found 218 pieces of crack cocaine with an estimated street value of $11,000 in Torres' bed, according to court records.

A Hagerstown man with three previous felony drug convictions was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a fourth conviction last week in Washington County Circuit Court. Judge Dana Moylan Wright told Shamar Tahi Anderson on Thursday that he will not be eligible for parole until he has served the first 10 years of his sentence for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Anderson, 33, of 241 S. Prospect St., was scheduled for a jury trial Thursday, but entered into a plea agreement after a bench conference.

A Hagerstown man with three previous felony drug convictions was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a fourth conviction last week in Washington County Circuit Court. Judge Dana Moylan Wright told Shamar Tahi Anderson on Thursday that he will not be eligible for parole until he has served the first 10 years of his sentence for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Anderson, 33, of 241 Prospect St., was scheduled for a jury trial Thursday, but entered into a plea agreement after a bench conference.

Police seized a “brick” of cocaine that had a street value of more than $20,000, plus more than $40,000 in cash at an Inwood, W.Va., home where they arrested three men Friday, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. Jose G. Martinez and Clemente Lezama-Luna of 180 Ford Circle, Inwood, and Ofelia Notario-Hernandez of 106 Alessandra Court, Apartment 172, Frederick, Md., were arraigned Saturday by Magistrate Jim Humphrey on single counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and conspiracy, according to court documents.

A man on home detention was arrested this week on allegations that he and a woman were selling drugs from their home, according to Washington County District Court records. Asaler L. Pointer, 41, and Tiffany Ann Mowery, 31, of 13813 Village Mill Drive, were arrested Monday after Washington County Narcotics Task Force agents conducted a search of the house. The search was based on sales of cocaine to a confidential informant, the statement of probable cause said. Pointer and Mowery each are charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, criminal conspiracy to distribute cocaine, maintaining a common nuisance for the distribution of narcotics, cocaine possession and firearms violations.

Martinsburg police arrested a man early Friday morning after a foot chase and seized about 29 grams of crack cocaine from him, according to the Martinsburg Police Department. Derrick S. Spencer, aka Fat Head, was charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, Martinsburg police Detective J.D. Luciano said in a news release. Spencer, 34, was detained in the area of Carroll  and Vicky Bullett streets just after midnight, the release said. The arrest was the culmination of drug investigations  Thursday night by the Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and Martinsburg police, the release said.

A federal judge on Friday sentenced a Martinsburg, W.Va., man to serve 10 years in prison for his conviction on two counts of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Lawrence Robert Hicks, 42, will spend three years on supervised probation following his release from prison, according to a news release from Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. A Maryland State Police traffic stop of Hicks in Frederick County on Sept. 20, 2011, resulted in 10 grams of cocaine being found in his vehicle, the release said.

A Hagerstown man charged with selling cocaine and a stolen handgun, and then ramming an armored police vehicle in an attempt to escape authorities, was sentenced Thursday to a minimum of five years in state prison. After accepting a plea agreement in Washington County Circuit Court, Manuel Ernesto Watson, 21, of 411 N. Mulberry St. entered Alford pleas to charges of distribution of cocaine, having a firearm in the commission of a drug crime and resisting arrest. An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt, but acknowledgment by a defendant that the prosecution has sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction.