HARRISBURG—Attorney General Josh Shapiro, in conjunction with the Forty-Sixth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, today announced that the Office of Attorney General has arrested 13 individuals and taken down a heroin/fentanyl and a methamphetamine trafficking organization operating in Elk and Erie counties.
“While we lose 14 Pennsylvanians a day to drug overdoses, these individuals peddled poisons into our communities with total disregard for the consequences,” said Attorney General Shapiro. “We’re committed to shutting down these dangerous, illegal trafficking operations, keeping Pennsylvania neighborhoods safe, and saving lives.”
The investigation into the rings began in 2019 after agents from the Office’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigations identified Thomas Wallace, Margaret Wisor, Joshua Pulliam, and Joshua Coles as trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine and heroin/fentanyl throughout Elk and Erie counties. The subsequent investigation into their trafficking network identified nine other individuals involved in trafficking methamphetamine: Dustin Black, Ashley Bowley, Adam Curci, Rikki Curcio, Andrew Hoover, Joseph Krise, James McDonald, Cayla Royer, and Michael VanDyne. The investigation culminated in the execution of search warrants in October 2020, when agents seized more than eight pounds or 700,000 doses of methamphetamine.
Wisor, Pulliam, Coles, Black, Bowley, Curci, Hoover, McDonald, and VanDyne are all currently incarcerated on unrelated charges and were charged with crimes related to the Grand Jury investigation. Wallace, Curcio, Krise, and Royer were taken into custody this week and charged with Criminal Conspiracy and drug-related offenses.
All charges are accusations. The defendants are innocent unless and until proven guilty. This case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Roger Bauer.
The investigation was conducted in partnership with Task Force Officers from the Attorney General’s North Central Drug Task Force, Elk County District Attorney’s Office, Elk County District Attorney’s Office County Detective, City of St. Marys Police Department, Clarion Police Department, Edinboro Police Department, Erie Bureau of Police, Girard Borough Police Department, Johnsonburg Police Department, Lake City Police Department, Millcreek Township Police Department, Ridgway Police Department and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence.
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