Suspected drug dealers hit with 6-figure bails
BUTLER TWP — Two suspected dealers — both felons — are jailed on six-figure bails after authorities say a warrant search of a Lyndora apartment early Saturday morning turned up crack cocaine and other drug contraband.
James A. Wilson, 64, who lives at the home, and Ja-Raye L. Sloan, 39, of Swissvale, Allegheny County, were both in the apartment when Butler County Drug Task Force officers executed the warrant about 1:10 a.m., authorities said.
The search turned up four plastic bag corners containing crack that weighed a combined 3.59 grams, according to court documents.
Investigators noted that in the sale of narcotics it is common to clip the ends of bags and use them to package the drugs.
Additionally, officers found other suspected drug-packaging materials at the home including new stamp bags, a box of plastic bags and plastic bags with the corners ripped off.
Also seized was a digital scale, six cell phones and $319 in currency, authorities said.
The evidence collected in the search, documents said, was “indicative of crack cocaine sales.”District Judge Lewis Stoughton arraigned Wilson and Sloan on felony charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and conspiracy, and misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.Stoughton remanded each defendant to the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail each.Butler County court records show that Sloan, a three-time drug felon, was out on bond at the time of his arrest while awaiting trial on unrelated drug-trafficking charges.State police vice officers in those cases accused him of selling crack and heroin to an informant in 2016 at a home in Butler.Wilson's criminal history, records show, includes convictions for robbery, burglary and trespass.
