Lawyers for a pair of Jefferson Township men facing felony drug charges questioned why police hadn't completed an analysis of hundreds of alleged marijuana vapes and a pound of THC wax.

Christopher D. Wright, 23, and Andrew J. Steinhiser, 28, appeared in Judge Sue Haggerty's district court for preliminary hearings Wednesday with attorneys Michael Zunder and Alexander Lindsay, respectively, representing them. Wright and Steinhiser were arrested and charged July 30 after police searched their homes and allegedly seized a combined seven-and-a-half pounds of marijuana and more than $16,000 in cash. But attorneys Zunder and Lindsay wondered why, several months later, results of a drug analysis by authorities hadn't been completed.

After the hearing, Haggerty held the charges over.

Trooper Andrew Andryka testified Wednesday that the investigation began after a Priority Mail parcel that appeared July 29 at the Saxonburg Post Office was flagged as suspicious. According to police, the parcel had a return mailing address to a business called “J.P. Hardware” in California. But when investigators checked the return address, all they saw were residential structures.

After a drug-detection dog allegedly confirmed the packages had drugs inside, authorities said they found 354 THC cartridges and one pound of marijuana wax. Sealing the package up, authorities conducted a “controlled” delivery to Steinhiser's home. Police said Steinhiser collected the package and drove to Wright's residence, where police executed a search warrant on the two houses.

Officers allegedly discovered and seized much more than just the contents of the California package during their search at Wright's home.

Among the items turned up, police said, was about three pounds of suspected processed marijuana, $8,993, a digital scale and shipping labels.

At Steinhiser's home, which was searched around 5:45 p.m., officers allegedly seized about four-and-a-half pounds of suspected processed marijuana, a little more than three-and-a-half ounces of suspected THC wax, and 146 marijuana vapes.

Andryka testified that based on his experience as an officer, he concluded the products contained THC, and that the two township men had the products for drug distribution.

In his arguments, Lindsay argued that the officer's hunch wasn't enough.

“They haven't submitted enough evidence,” Lindsay said. “This happened a while ago, and we have no explanation for why we don't have the lab results after four months.”

Andryka testified the suspected drugs were being analyzed in the state police's forensic services lab in Greensburg.

Assistant District Attorney Amanda Scarpo countered that Lindsay's characterization was an oversimplification of what Andryka said and that they had enough evidence for the charges to move forward.

Wright faces felony charges of criminal conspiracy to manufacture or deliver and manufacture or possess with the intent to deliver. Wright also faces misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance, possessing a small amount of marijuana for personal use, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Steinhiser faces felony charges of criminal conspiracy to manufacture or deliver and two counts of manufacture or possess with the intent to deliver. Steinhiser also faces misdemeanor charges of two counts of possession of a controlled substance, two counts of possessing a small amount of marijuana for personal use and two counts possession of drug paraphernalia.