Feds say phones tapped in probe that led to indictment of 6 defendants in Erie drug case
Investigators intercepted telephone calls to build the case against six Erie residents indicted on charges that they operated a drug conspiracy that included the delivery of heroin and opioid pills, a federal prosecutor said at a court hearing for the lead defendant.
The wiretaps established a "regular distribution of the drugs" between the lead defendant, Larry Tremel Alexander, and the other defendants, including his girlfriend, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Sellers said at Alexander's arraignment and detention hearing in U.S. District Court in Erie on Monday.
Indictment:6 indicted in Erie-based ring that feds say dealt in meth, cocaine, opioid pills, heroin
Sellers gave few other details in court about the case, which became public when the indictment against the six defendants was unsealed on Thursday. A federal grand jury in Erie issued the indictment on March 14.
Are Alexander and the other defendants out on bond in drug case?
Alexander and three of the other defendants were arrested in the case, and all of those four have been released on unsecured bonds of $10,000 each. Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard A. Lanzillo set the bonds for three of the defendants on Thursday and set Alexander's bond at the detention hearing on Monday. Two of the defendants have yet to be arrested.
Alexander pleaded not guilty at the arraignment, and the detention hearing followed.
Lanzillo at the detention hearing ordered him to continue living at a building in the 300 block of West 29th Street in Erie, near Chestnut Street. Lanzillo said Alexander must abide by several other conditions while out on bond, including having no contact with his girlfriend, Marissa Mae Parry, and the other four defendants.
Alexander, 46, known as "Mel," is accused of conspiring to traffic in more than 50 grams of meth and unspecified quantities of heroin, cocaine and hydrocodone, an opioid painkiller, from March 2019 to September 2022. He is also accused of money laundering.
The other defendants are
Parry, 41 — Charged with conspiracy to traffic in a quantity of hydrocodone and charged with money laundering.
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.
What were some of the arguments at the detention hearing?
Jones and Orr remained at large on Monday, Sellers said. He said all the defendants were living in Erie when investigators said the conspiracy was operating, though Orr and Alexander are known to have ties to Benton Harbor, Michigan, west of Kalamazoo on Lake Michigan. Alexander has a prior record, according to information presented in court on Monday.
At the detention hearing, Alexander's lawyer, Robert Carey, of Pittsburgh, told Lanzillo that Alexander moved to Erie from Michigan to care for a cousin who was paralyzed. The cousin died two years ago, Carey said.
Drugs on the street:Overdose deaths remain high in Erie County, but help is available to those in need
He said Alexander drives an airport shuttle and lives alone with his French bulldog. Carey said Alexander is neither a flight risk nor a threat to the community.
Sellers argued unsuccessfully that Alexander should be detained pending prosecution. His reasons included the nature of the drug case and the wiretap evidence.
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Feds: Phones tapped in probe that led to indictment in Erie drug case
