Oil City Man One of 23 Named in Attorney General Drug Sweep

| August 31, 2017

BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. (EYT) — An Oil City man was named as one of twenty-three people charged in a drug sweep in Beaver County.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced charges yesterday against a Beaver County man for selling fentanyl-laced drugs to two victims who died weeks apart of overdoses. Another 22 drug dealers – including Charles Jones, 38, of W. 1st Street, Oil City – were also charged yesterday with selling heroin, cocaine and other drugs throughout Beaver County.

Charles Jones of Oil City.

Robert “Juice” Goosby, Jr., 27, of Penn Avenue, New Brighton, was charged by the Office of Attorney General with two counts of drug delivery resulting in death – a tactic law enforcement is using to confront drug dealers amid the heroin and opioid epidemic ravaging Pennsylvania.

“If you sell drugs and someone dies as a result, we’re coming after you and you’re going to jail,” Attorney General Shapiro said at a press conference at the Beaver County Courthouse. “Selling fentanyl or heroin is like playing Russian roulette. You never know when the bullet is coming.”

Wednesday’s arrest is the first time the drug delivery resulting in death charge has been used by the Office of Attorney General in Beaver County. Other cases have been brought in Allegheny, Clarion, Montgomery, Somerset, Wayne and Westmoreland counties. It is a first-degree felony.

Beaver County has been one of the counties hardest hit by the heroin and opioid epidemic, with a 175% increase in overdose deaths in the last year. It ranks 3rd in the state for its opioid fatality rate.

“We hear the people of Beaver County and across our Commonwealth asking us to take action to help them,” Attorney General Shapiro said. “That’s what we’re doing here today and across Pennsylvania to confront the #1 public health and safety problem in the Commonwealth.”

The drug delivery resulting in death case began in February, when local police found Jonathan Levitt dead of an overdose in his home in North Fayette Township on February 10. An autopsy determined Levitt died of a fentanyl and amphetamine overdose.

On February 28, a second victim, Jeffrey Haslett, was found dead of an overdose in his home in New Brighton. The autopsy revealed Haslett overdosed on fentanyl.

A joint investigation by the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation with local police in North Fayette and New Brighton led to Goosby as the source of the fentanyl that killed Levitt and Haslett. A statewide investigative grand jury also heard evidence and testimony, and recommended the charges against Goosby filed Wednesday.

Attorney General Shapiro also announced that 22 other drug dealers have been charged with selling heroin, cocaine and other drugs in the Beaver County area. This is the largest sweep of drug dealers in Beaver County since Attorney General Shapiro took office in January. All were charged with delivery of a controlled substance and other drug-related offenses:

Dennis Alexander, 21, of Beaver Street, Leetsdale
Jeffery Alford, 22, of 5th Avenue, New Brighton
Michael Bentel, 42, of 4th Avenue, Beaver Falls
Jamal Boyd, 29, of 4th Avenue, Beaver Falls
Jeremiah Collington, 24, of Strawberry Alley, New Brighton
Ayende Crawford, 27, of 12th Street, Beaver Falls
Gregory Conrad, 29, of 24th Street, Beaver Falls
Brandon Graham, 34, of 8th Avenue, Beaver Falls
Autumn Griffin, 29, of 1st Street, New Castle
Kelly Guilford, 22, of 9th Avenue, Beaver Falls
Joshua Heck, 31, of 3rd Avenue, New Brighton
Scott Humphries, 33, of Franklin Avenue, Aliquippa
Blake Imbriale, 29, of Darlington Road, Beaver Falls
Thomas Jackson Jr, 24, of Glenwood Avenue, Ambridge
Charles Jones, 38, of W. 1st Street, Oil City
Ralph Knowlton, 54, of Patterson Avenue, Beaver Falls
Conrad Newman, 48, of 3rd Avenue, New Brighton
Tyawana Price, 34, of 8th Avenue, Beaver Falls
Joseph Rinaman, 32, of Morado Dwellings, Beaver Falls
Cordell Sain, 25, of Indiana Avenue, Monaca
Marquis Smith, 24, of Melrose Avenue, Ambridge
Ian Stewart, 31, of Center Street, Rochester

Attorney General Shapiro was joined at Wednesday’s news conference by Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier, who said: “It is only through joint action such as today’s round up of narcotics dealers, and increased efforts to divert drug abusers into treatment rather than jail, that we stand any chance of getting ahead.”

Attorney General Shapiro praised the law enforcement collaboration leading to the arrests: “We thank the North Fayette and New Brighton Area Police Departments for their work on these cases, along with every local police agency that assisted with these investigations.”

Attorney General Shapiro’s news conference in Beaver County Wednesday morning kicked off a day-long series of events in four Pennsylvania counties. The attorney general is holding meetings with local officials in Butler, Westmoreland and Cambria counties to hear their thoughts and concerns about the epidemic in their communities, along with other issues.


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