Alleged trafficker serving drug sentence

Ed Lewis, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read

Jun. 18—WILKES-BARRE — A Plains Township man charged with being a top official in a drug trafficking ring that snarled a Hanover Township police officer Thursday is currently serving a sentence for peddling illegal drugs.

Gerinardo Emilio Rivera, 52, continued to direct, transport and distribute a large amount of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and marijuana while on probation for a 2020 arrest when illegal drugs were found inside 143 Blackman St. on July 1, 2020, according to court records.

Rivera, of 35 Delaware St., was arrested when Wilkes-Barre police anti-crime unit, state police Troop P vice and narcotics and the Luzerne County Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at the Blackman Street residence.

Court records say 58 grams of methamphetamine, 85 grams of heroin and fentanyl, cutting agents and packaging materials were found inside the building, including mail in Rivera's name.

Rivera pled guilty to felony charge of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and was sentenced May 12, 2021, by Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. to nine months at the county correctional facility and two years probation.

While on probation, Rivera continued run the drug trafficking ring closely with Ramon Severino Fernandez, 39, of Kingston, until they were both arrested when drug agents with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office executed a search warrant at 131 N. Meade St., Wilkes-Barre, on April 22, court records say.

The North Meade Street property is owned by Ken Davis Jr., 26, who was hired as a police officer in Hanover Township in 2020.

A 200-page criminal complaint and affidavit filed against Rivera, Fernandez and Davis alleges the North Meade Street building was used to store and package illegal drugs.

The county Adult Probation and Parole Unit filed a violation report in May against Rivera following his arrest in April.

A revocation hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11.

Rivera, Fernandez and Davis were charged with being members of a corrupt organization, drug trafficking and dealing in proceeds of an illegal enterprise. The trio remain jailed at the county correctional facility for lack of $500,000 bail each.