Philadelphia man has hearing in drug case
Police detective John Johnson observed multiple illegal drug operations running out of “host houses” during his time as a member of the Butler County Drug Task Force. Such activity involves local individuals allowing drug dealers with no local ties to operate out of their homes.
During his testimony Monday, Johnson said this scenario applies to the case of a Philadelphia man accused of drug-related charges in Butler County. Johnson was one of two law enforcement officers to take the stand in a court hearing for 25-year-old Quendell Mauri Owens of Philadelphia.
Owens was charged in October 2018 with six drug-related counts — three felonies and three misdemeanors. Felony charges include two counts of manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver; and one count of criminal conspiracy engaging in manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver. Charges against Owens also include two misdemeanor counts of intent to possess controlled substances and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
“That's the overwhelming majority (of) what we see in Butler County,” Johnson said of “host house” drug operations.
Monday's hearing before Judge Timothy McCune addressed several items in the case, including determining what evidence would be permissible. Owens' court-appointed lawyer, Joel Lansing Hills, questioned investigators as to how authorities conclude Owens was involved in an alleged drug distribution scheme at the Old Plank Estates apartment where he was arrested on Oct. 26.
Police also arrested Mandi L. Gipson, 32, of Butler and Vakie Ionic Knight, 28, of Philadelphia, who were in the apartment with Owens at the time of his arrest. Both Gipson and Knight face similar drug charges.
The task force investigated the scene on Old Plank Road and led the raid with help from Butler Township Police. According to court documents, police found 24 grams of crack cocaine, four stamp bags of heroin and 12 capsules of what they believed at the time was heroin during the raid. Investigators estimated the value of the crack cocaine at $2,000 and the capsules at $1,200.
Johnson testified Owens was found in one of the bedrooms at the time of his arrest, although there were no drugs in the room with him. Hills questioned Johnson as to why Owens was charged with drug distribution given the absence of drugs in the room.
Detectives testified the only items that were allegedly in the room were a handgun, cash, black rubberbands and a pink duffel bag lightly covered with a white substance. Inside the bag were capsules filled with a white substance that detectives believed to be heroin at the time and a bottle of colon dietary supplements.
The white powder later tested negative for heroin, Johnson said, adding that authorities have not yet identified the powder.
Hills also requested that Judge Timothy McCune sever the case from the two co-defendants, Knight and Gipson.
“There's evidence the other two co-defendants are in an (romantic) relationship,” Hills said.
McCune will make a decision before April.
