Drug charges against Calif. pair held for court
Nearly 2 pounds of suspected cocaine, more than 1,400 opioid painkillers, about $36,0000, an AR-15 hidden in a drop ceiling and a 12-gauge shotgun with a drum magazine under a bed — that was some of the evidence seized during a July 11 search of a Butler apartment, an agent with the state Attorney General's Office Bureau of Narcotics Investigations and Drug Control testified at a preliminary hearing Monday.
District Judge William Fullerton ordered brothers Deandre M. Sanders, 34, and Daveion L. Sanders, 27, both of Los Angeles held for trial on felony and other drug charges following testimony from a state narcotics agent.
The Butler Eagle's policy is not to identify such officers due to the nature of their assignment.
The agent said that a “source of information” on July 11 provided authorities with a tip that Deandre Sanders would deliver about 4 grams of cocaine to Thorncrest Drive in Penn Township.
The source also claimed that he had previously bought drugs from Deandre from the apartment, and that the defendant had been trafficking drugs in the Butler area for about a year.
The agent said he believed that Deandre Sanders was leasing the apartment, but was uncertain how long he had been living there.
Armed with the information, agents conducted surveillance at the apartment and eventually saw Deandre Sanders drive away alone in a car. State police assisted in the investigation, the agent said.
He also noted that Daveion Sanders was seen “coming and going” from the residence that day.
Deandre Sanders eventually parked in a driveway on Thorncrest Drive, where officers took him into custody. He was searched and found with about 4.6 ounces of cocaine, 20 oxymorphone pills and five THC cartridges, the agent testified.
Authorities later that day obtained a search warrant for the apartment. By the time the warrant was executed, Daveion Sanders had been arrested.
Neither defendant provided a statement to investigators, the agent said.
The apartment search allegedly turned up almost 30 ounces of suspected cocaine, 1,425 oxymorphone pills, 100 marijuana vapes, around $36,000, three digital scales and other evidence of alleged drug trafficking.Also found was the AR-15 rifle and shotgun and a 9 mm pistol.On cross-examination by Deandre Sanders' attorney, Stephen Misko of Butler, the agent acknowledged he had not used the source of information for any prior investigation. The agent could not say how the source knew Deandre Sanders would allegedly be in possession of cocaine that day.“(The source) just knew Deandre (was) a cocaine trafficker,” the agent said.During the apartment search, the agent testified, officers found the suspected cocaine in the ceiling of the kitchen. The pills also were found in the kitchen.Officers found the pistol in a living room end table. In the master bedroom, which authorities believe Deandre Sanders was using, they allegedly found the shotgun. The rifle was in the ceiling of the spare bedroom, which the agent said that he suspected Daveion Sanders was using.On cross-examination by Daveion Sanders' attorney, Gary Gerson of Pittsburgh, the agent acknowledged that authorities found no drugs in that spare bedroom or on Daveion Sanders.The agent also admitted he did not know how long Daveion Sanders had been in Butler County. Additionally, the agent conceded that the source of information had no knowledge of Daveion Sanders staying at the apartment.Following testimony, both defense attorneys asked Fullerton to dismiss the charges.Misko argued that there were no lab results presented that confirmed the suspected drugs were controlled substances.Gerson said his client was “never on the radar” of investigators before July 11. He also had no drugs or other contraband on him.“There's not even a basis for more likely than not that he was involved in some type of crime at the time he was detained and taken into custody,” Gerson said.Fullerton ordered all charges — possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, conspiracy and possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia — held for court.
