Woman, 69, pleads guilty in drug ring
A Cranberry Township woman could be facing state prison after pleading guilty in Butler County Court on Monday to helping facilitate an alleged million-dollar drug enterprise by distributing synthetic marijuana.
Patricia A. Quinn, 69, pleaded guilty to charges of felony conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance and delivery of a controlled substance before county Judge William Shaffer.
Quinn was initially charged with felony corrupt organizations, dealing in proceeds of illegal activity, conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance alongside Richard D. Sallade, 72, also of Cranberry Township, after investigators with the state's Attorney General's Office Bureau of Narcotics Investigation allege that Quinn and Sallade together distributed synthetic marijuana between May 1, 2012, and Nov. 20, 2014.
They are accused of receiving large shipments of synthetic marijuana from out of state and arranging for it to be distributed to customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio between late 2012 and November 2014.
Sentencing is open to the court, and could range anywhere from probation to up to five years in state prison on each charge, Shaffer told Quinn on Monday.
Quinn's attorney, Christopher Capozzi, said his client has no previous record.
Both Sallade and Quinn were arraigned and released on $50,000 unsecured bail each.
She is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday, along with Sallade, who previously pleaded guilty to felony corrupt organizations, dealing in proceeds of illegal activity and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance. Sallade's plea agreement calls for a sentence in the minimum of nine- to 16-month range.
The agreements also call for restitution of $19,124.
Authorities allege that the two worked in tandem out of Sallade's office building in Cranberry Township to distribute the compounds after they had become controlled substances under 2012 legislation.
The distribution allegedly occurred in an empty storefront in Piazza Plaza on Route 19. Sallade owned and operated the Glass Gone Wow, formerly called Glass Gone Wild and Tobacco For Less, in the same plaza.
Authorities conducted undercover purchases with a Prospect man, Craig W. Pfister, between September 2013 and November 2014. Once police revealed themselves, Pfister led investigators to Bruce A. Johnson of Monaca, Beaver County, who allegedly was storing synthetic marijuana in two storage lockers in Vanport, Beaver County.
Johnson then allegedly told police that he would regularly pick up synthetic marijuana from Sallade at an empty storefront in the same plaza as Glass Gone Wow and deliver it to two “accounts” in Ohio.
He also drove to Boston, New York City, Newark, N.J., and Harrisburg to pick up synthetic marijuana from contacts after shipments from Florida were intercepted at the UPS center, he told police.
Sallade would arrange the distribution and keep inventory, but did not have contact with the drugs, Johnson testified at the preliminary hearing.
Following search warrants, a total of more than 360 pounds of synthetic marijuana, carrying an estimated street value of $1.6 million, was seized from a storage unit and from several packages intercepted at a UPS facility in Jackson Township, according to previous reports.
Police determined that eight packages were sent from Tampa, Fla., to both the Tobacco for Less store and the UPS facility.
Also in 2014, in Sallade and Quinn's apartment, police allegedly found nearly $190,000 in cash, and another $228,000 was seized from a bank account.
Johnson and Pfister both await further court action.
