Arrests of six people in connection with a fentanyl and heroin ring were announced Friday by Clarion County District Attorney Mark Aaron.
Three of those suspects are also charged in the death of a Clarion County man last year.
Charged with drug delivery resulting in death are Aaron E. Johnson of Monroeville, William A. Fourness of Ridgway and Spencer G. Rudolph of Shippenville.
“Fentanyl is the plague of a generation,” said Aaron. “There has never been a more direct lethal threat to the welfare of rural communities in general and Clarion in particular than the sale of fentanyl because fentanyl is death.”
“The only way rural law enforcement can address this plague is by all law enforcement agencies working together,” the DA added.
Clarion Borough Police was the lead agency in the investigation and was assisted by 15 agencies from four counties.
“The purpose of these criminal charges is to stop the spread of deadly fentanyl into Clarion County and northwestern Pennsylvania, said Clarion County Assistant DA Drew Welsh.
Welsh said the investigation revealed that fentanyl and heroin was being packaged and distributed by Johnson in Monroeville. The investigation led to William Fourness and his wife, Kasey, in Elk County.
Welsh said they are charged with developing a network with Johnson to bring his fentanyl and heroin into northwest Pennsylvania. Welsh said William Fourness would direct Gleixner, Hoffman and Rudolph to travel to the Pittsburgh area and transport the drugs into the area.
Welsh said the fentanyl that killed a young Clarion County man in November allegedly traveled from Allegheny County and eventually arrived in Clarion after making stops in Elk and Jefferson counties.
Welsh said the toxicology report on the man who died in November wasn’t available until Jan. 28.
“This was the first indication that he had died of the result of fentanyl,” said Walsh. “In the month and a half since that discovery, law enforcement has used nearly every tool they could to identify the source of the deadly drugs, stop it and hold those dealing with this poison accountable.”
Welsh said those tools included numerous interviews spanning several counties, search warrants obtained for vehicles, homes, cell phones and wire money transactions. He said multiple agencies conducted in person surveillance on suspects.
Seized during the arrests was a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee, a 2009 BMW 525i, $3,700 in cash, a Taurus 9 mm handgun, about 113 grams of heroin/fentanyl with a street value of $48,500, about eight grams of crack cocaine with a value of $800, 4.5 grams of methamphetamine valued at $400, four grams of cocaine valued at $400 and suboxone and prescription pills.
The six suspects are all facing various felony and misdemeanor charges.
Five of those arrested are in the Clarion County jail, and one is in the Elk County jail.
“We are acutely aware that one operation such as this does not cure the drug problem,” said Aaron. We had 12 drug overdose deaths last year in Clarion County. This case is just one.”
“Those matters continue to be investigated,” Aaron added. “Law enforcement is well aware that all assets must be brought to bear on this epidemic. But this is not a singularly law enforcement problem.”
Aaron stressed this “must be a community wide effort involving schools, churches, coaches, treatment professionals, legislators and most of all, parents.”