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6 alleged drug dealers being sought

Sweep rounds up 4 suspects

A half dozen arrest warrants targeting alleged narcotics dealers remain unserved following a recent drug sweep in and around Butler.

The sweep that began late last week was a special joint operation between the Butler County Drug Task Force and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office's Bureau of Narcotics, authorities said.

All of the suspected traffickers named in the warrants are accused of peddling drugs last year in Butler. Most of those alleged dealers were hawking heroin and crack cocaine.

County officers, local police and state agents participated in the roundup of alleged dealers. Three of the suspects were picked up last Friday. Another one turned herself in Wednesday.

Still being sought on arrest warrants are the following:

- Ervin Johnson Jr., 59, of Butler is charged with delivery of a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility.

The state attorney general's office accused Johnson of selling crack to an informant Feb. 24 at his apartment on Ninth Avenue.

- Kenneth L. Johnson, 29, of Butler is charged with delivery of a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility.

The state attorney general's office accused Johnson of selling heroin to an informant Sept. 15 at Broad and North streets, court documents said.

- James C. Kidd, 21, of Center Township is charged with helping two siblings operate a methamphetamine lab at a house on Elm Court, where the brother and sister lived, for at least several months, until Dec. 12.

- Shayna M. McDowell, 31, of Butler is charged with delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

The county drug task force said McDowell on July 6 sold an informant heroin for $40 at Butler Memorial Park, according to court documents.

- Clint E. Nagle, 32, no known address, is charged with two counts each of delivery of a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility.

The state attorney general's office accused Nagle of selling heroin to an informant twice on March 29. One deal was on East Brady Street and the other was on McKean Street in back of the Butler Public Library, according to court documents.

- Amanda L. White, 36, of Butler is charged with two counts each of delivery of a controlled substance, and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance.

The county drug task force said White on Oct. 8 sold an informant 10 stamp bags of heroin and one-half gram of crack. The $190 deal, documents said, occurred on Wagner Avenue.

County Detective Tim Fennell, who heads the Butler County Drug Task Force, said Wednesday that Nagle is already in state prison for a parole violation in an unrelated case.

Ervin Johnson is at a Veterans Affairs facility in eastern Pennsylvania, where he's undergoing unknown treatment.

The other wanted suspects, Fennell said, are “in the wind,” for now.

The sweep netted three suspects — Donald J. Hutchinson, 25, Ross M. Cammisa, 34, and Ronald L. Schaeffer, 41, all of Butler — who were arrested Friday.

Hutchinson is charged with two counts each of delivery of a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility.

The attorney general's office accused him of selling heroin to an informant Aug. 22 at an arranged meeting at the Pullman Plaza shopping center and Aug. 29 near Penn Street.

He is in the Butler County Prison on $10,000 bail.

Cammisa is charged with manufacturing a controlled substance, conspiracy, operating a meth lab, possessing chemicals and other precursors with intent to manufacture a controlled substance, risking a catastrophe, and possessing a controlled substance.

He and his sister, Melissa M. Cammisa, 31, of Butler, and Kidd are accused of cooking up methamphetamine at the house where the siblings lived.

Melissa Cammisa on Wednesday morning turned herself in to authorities. She faces the same charges as her brother and Kidd. She is in the county prison on $30,000 bail. Ross Cammisa is free on $25,000 bail.

Schaeffer is charged with delivery of a controlled substance, and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance.

The county drug task force accused Schaeffer of selling crack to an informant for $100, court documents said, in an Oct. 3 deal at the defendant's apartment in the 300 block of Fairview Avenue.

He is free on $7,500 bail.

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