District Attorney Richard Consiglio, at a press conference yesterday at the Tyrone Borough building, announced 14 individuals, classified as street-level drug dealers, have been charged with dealing a variety of different drugs in the Tyrone area.
The arrests are the result of a four month long investigation into the street-level dealings of Xanax, Tylenol No. 3, crack cocaine, suboxone, morphine and heroin.
Of those being charged, five of the drug dealers are allegedly associated with members of the Bloods street gang, who were charged earlier this month as part of “Operation Blood Clot.”
Those five individuals were identified as Guy Allen Walter, Catherine Watson, William Green, Rebecca Bonsell and David Bonsell.
The majority of the suspected drug dealers are from Tyrone while other local suspects are from Altoona.
“Today’s drug arrests are part of an ongoing effort to target local, street-level drug dealers, who are working in connection with upper-level dealers to peddle their drugs on the streets of Blair County,” Attorney General Tom Corbett said in a press release.
Over the course of the investigation, agents used confidential informants to make a series of controlled buys in and around Tyrone.
Consiglio said that in addition to the work agents were conducting on the street, information provided to the Blair County “Push out the Pushers” hotline (814-693-3020) was also used to help identify suspected drug dealers during the investigation.
A complete list of the defendants and the charges against them include:
• David Bonsell, 31, 320 21st St., Altoona, is charged with one count each of delivery of heroin and cocaine, possession and conspiracy;
• Rebecca Bonsell, 29, 898 29th St., Apt. 5, Altoona, is charged with two counts each of delivery of heroin and cocaine, possession and conspiracy;
• Guy Allen Walter, 24, currently incarcerated in the Blair County Prison, is charged with three counts each of delivery of heroin, possession and criminal use of a communication facility;
• Catherine Watson, 30, 121 E. 5th Ave., Altoona, is charged with one count each of conspiracy and criminal use of a communications facility;
• William Green, 29, 898 29th St., Apt. 5, Altoona, is charged with one count each of delivery of heroin, possession and conspiracy;
• Leslie Riggleman, 39, RD4 Box 161, Tyrone, is charged with three counts of deliver of crack cocaine, three counts of possession, three counts of criminal use of a communications facility, one count of theft and one count of conspiracy;
• Gary Decker, 37, 1281 Bald Eagle Valley Rd., Tyrone, is charged with one count each of delivery of morphine, possession and criminal use of a communications facility;
• Stephen Holmberg, 24, currently incarcerated in the Blair County Prison, is charged with one count of conspiracy;
• Ted Mills, 34, 1456 Logan Avenue, Tyrone, is charged with four counts each of delivery of Vicodin/Xanax, possession and criminal use of a communications facility;
• William Marlett, 42, RD4 Box 176, Tyrone, is charged with three counts each of delivery of Vicodin/Suboxone, possession and criminal use of a communications facility;
• Steven Ray, 32, RD3 Box 273, Tyrone, is charged with one count each of theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy;
• Robert “Pappy” Mills, 40, 1017 17th Ave., Altoona, is charged with one count each of delivery of crack cocaine, possession and manufacturing;
• Frank Schroyer, 52, 23 W 14th Street, Tyrone, is charged with one count each of delivery of Tylenol No. 3 and possession and
• “Jada Doe”, age and address unknown, is charged with one count each of delivery of crack cocaine, possession and conspiracy.
According to Consiglio, Jada Doe is thought to be from the Harrisburg area and is the only suspect who was not picked up in yesterday morning’s drug sweep.
Tyrone Chief of Police Joe Beachem said they are working on some promising leads to find Jada.
Beachem also said the bust was relatively uneventful.
“Most of the suspects were picked up at their residences, one was at a business…” said Beachem.
He added that police from Altoona, Bellwood, Duncansville and Williamsburg, along with Tyrone, were involved in the investigation.
Corbett and Consiglio thanked the businesses and community leaders involved with “Operation Our Town,” a nonprofit corporation formed by local business leaders to take back local neighborhoods and rid them of drugs and drug related crime.
“‘Operation Our Town’ is a positive example of how business and community leaders can make a difference in our neighborhoods,” Corbett said in a release. “Drug abuse is a community-wide problem that requires community-wide solutions.”
The preliminary hearings for the defendants are scheduled for March 25 before Magisterial District Judge Fred Miller. The defendants will be prosecuted by District Attorney Richard Consiglio’s office.
Corbett thanked Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio’s office, the Blair County Drug Task Force, Tyrone Police Depart and the citizen’s of Blair County for their assistance with the investigation.
