6 indicted in Erie-based ring that feds say dealt in meth, cocaine, opioid pills, heroin
Six Erie residents have been indicted on federal charges that they operated an Erie-based ring that trafficked in methamphetamine, cocaine, hydrocodone pills and heroin from March 2019 to September 2022.
All six are charged with a felony count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, though the drugs each is accused of dealing vary.
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Two of the defendants are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering between March 2019 and this past October, according to court records.
A federal grand jury issued the two-count indictment in U.S. District Court in Erie on March 14. The indictment was unsealed Thursday following the filing of arrest warrants for the six.
Who are the 6 defendants charged in Erie drug conspiracy?
The lead defendant is Larry Tremel Alexander, 46, known as "Mel," according to the indictment. He is accused of conspiring to traffic in more than 50 grams of meth and unspecified quantities of heroin, cocaine and hydrocodone, an opioid. He is also accused of money laundering.
The other defendants are as follows, listed in the order they appear in the indictment. The primary defendants in a federal criminal case are typically listed the highest in an indictment.
The defendants all live in Erie, said the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, which includes Erie.
Dennis Levar Jones, 45 — Charged with conspiracy to traffic in more than 50 grams of meth and quantity of cocaine.
Pernell Tequin Orr, 33 — Charged with conspiracy to traffic in a quantity of meth.
Nicole Grace Fox, 33 — Charged with conspiracy to traffic in a quantity of meth.
Shalin Nicole Pepperman, 41 — Charged with conspiracy to traffic in a quantity of meth.
Malissa Mae Perry, 41 — Charged with conspiracy to traffic in a quantity of hydrocodone and charged with money laundering.
What penalties would the defendants face if convicted?
The conspiracy count related to the distribution of more than 50 grams of meth — the charge that applies to Alexander and Jones — carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 40 years, according to court records.
The conspiracy count related to the distribution of quantities of cocaine, hydrocodone and meth carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. The money-laundering count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
All the penalties related to the drug charges in the case increase if a convicted defendant has a prior record for certain felony convictions.
What is the next stage in the case of the six defendants?
Three of the defendants — Fox, Pepperman and Perry — pleaded not guilty at their arraignments Thursday before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard A. Lanzillo at the federal courthouse in Erie. He released each of the three on unsecured bonds of $10,000.
Alexander was arrested and is at the Erie County Prison awaiting an arraignment and a detention hearing, according to court records.
The other two defendants — Jones and Orr — were at large as of Friday morning, according to court records and the U.S. Attorney's Office. The office has asked that they be detained in prison once they are arrested.
U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter is assigned the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Sellers is prosecuting.
Who investigated the case against the 6 defendants?
The prosecution is the result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. It said the task force "uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks."
The agencies investigated the case were the drug law unit of the Pennsylvania State Police, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Erie police and detectives with the Erie County District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The office said the authorities conducted the probe in association with what is called the Northwest Pennsylvania Drug Initiative. It was formed after the federal government designated Erie County as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area in 2021.
Congress created the designation in 1988 to foster coordination among local, state and federal agencies to combat drug trafficking. The designation provides more money and resources to target major drug trafficking in Erie County, officials said.
Erie County is one of nearly three dozen areas across the country, including several other counties in Pennsylvania, with the designation, officials said.
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Erie County has been used by drug traffickers as a "waypoint" for large-scale distribution, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in announcing the federal designation in May 2021.
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The office said drug dealers had exploited Erie's easy access by train, bus and highway to larger cities such as Cleveland, Buffalo and Detroit to use Erie County as a repackaging hub for further distribution and to funnel drug proceeds back through the supply line.
How does the new case rank with other federal drug cases in Erie?
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Erie will prosecute the new drug case at the same time it continues to prosecute another drug case that is one of the largest in federal court in Erie over the past several years.
In that case, 25 people were indicted in May on charges that they conspired to deal in cocaine, methamphetamine or fentanyl.
The defendants charged in the highest levels of the case are accused of trafficking in as much as 220 pounds, or about 100 kilos, of powder and crack cocaine that originated in Costa Rica and was shipped from Puerto Rico to Erie from January 2020 to May 2022. The conspiracy also stretched into Florida, according to the government.
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: 6 indicted in Erie PA-based drug ring: meth, cocaine, pills, heroin
