U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for October 7, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. Maybe longer. Smith accessed the storage unit on 39 separate occasions and obtained at least 250 grams of narcotics during his visits. (DC News Now) The Hagerstown Police Department said officers executed a search and seizure warrant at 115 S. Mulberry St. on Oct. 7, finding fentanyl, crack cocaine, $5,000 cash, and firearms. I wanted to knock down doors and haul bad guys off to jail, and thats what I did for 30 years., Since his daughters death, Simmers and Brooke's stepmother, Dana, have been very public about sharing their experience, sparing none of their familys worst moments and pain. Kristie Lockhard, a 38-year-old recovering addict volunteering at the event, says when she first started using heroin in 1999, she would drive to Baltimore two or three times a day to buy it. Information for Victims of 1st Million Dollars, LLC. seventy-five miles west of Baltimore, the sun has yet to rise over South Mountain, but already a line of cars is arriving at the Phoenix Health Center in Hagerstown. HAGERSTOWN, Md. College Park mayor, DC COVID Centers to close at the end of March, Mother calls for answers after son killed by police, MTPD: Two teenagers arrested, one had gun, Burglar used Germantown mans toothbrush, razor,, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. All rights reserved. Neither did the Washington County health officer or then-Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith, who questioned the wisdom of opening a methadone clinic in a city that, he claimed, did not have a heroin problem. Including Brookes father. The 30-count indictment charges the residents of Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and the Dominican Republic with trafficking large amounts of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine base and cocaine hydrochloride from Hagerstown to locations in Berkeley County, West Virginia, from August 2020 to June 2021. Photography by Benjamin C. Tankersley | July 2018. the sun has yet to rise over South Mountain, but already a line of cars is arriving at the Phoenix Health Center in Hagerstown. You have permission to edit this article. She also cites the new safe needle program implemented by the county health departmentalbeit over the objection of a couple of state delegatesto combat Hepatitis C and HIV infections. Robison. But today, while Frederick, just 25 miles east down I-70, is regularly named among the best places to live in the U.S., Hagerstown more closely resembles a microcosm of Baltimoreessentially a small town with big-city problems, continually in survival mode. (In 2007, three Purdue executives pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the misbranding of OxyContin and paid $34.5 million in fines, while the company agreed to pay $600 million to resolve a Department of Justice investigation.) From March 20 to April 24, 2019, law enforcement surveilled activity at the suspected unit on a daily basis and observed Smith opening the storage unit to weigh and process suspected narcotics for distribution. Some of the NFT agents are also federally deputized members of the DEA, which gives these local agents enforcement powers anywhere in the United States. . Hagerstown, MD 3 days ago. To me, the urban improvement project is huge. Jazzmen Vaughn, one count distribution of heroin and one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin. Its a huge step forward. Several weapons were seized, including two stolen handguns, as well as rifles and shotguns, Kerns said. Ketia Daniel, founder of BHM Cleaning Co., is BestReviews cleaning expert. The seizures, and the refills, continued for about eight months, then ceased, but Morningstar found himself dependent on the narcoticphysically, mentally, and emotionally. As the former Supervisor of Visual and Performing Arts for Washington County Public Schools, Rob Hovermale was involved in conversations as early as 2000 about opening a public arts high school in Hagerstowntalks that were largely dismissed at the time. Andre Luther Woolford, 33, of Hurlock, Maryland. Across the country, rural addiction rates have surpassed those in urban areas, yet there is still not a single inpatient drug treatment facility in Washington County. Michael Romito, three counts of distribution of heroin. The operation was further supported by the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Initiative, the Governors Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services, and the Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network Initiative. During the execution of the search warrant, Smith informed law enforcement that he had a storage unit in Hagerstown, Maryland, and told officers where he kept the keys to the unit. In 2016 (the most recent year available), an average of 113 prescriptions for opioids were written for every 100 Washington County residentsnearly twice the national average. Two more telltale signs of Hagerstowns plight are present here as well: The countys storefront offices sit in an all-but-abandoned shopping center, and nearby is a Superfund site, less than a mile from three public schools, and still in need of remediation two decades after it was added to the EPAs National Priorities List. I wanted to be in narcotics. With the highways and economic factors, its all a perfect storm.. I was on the other side, and I get it, and people have every right to make that point.. "They represent lives saved from overdose deaths and the continuing nightmare of drug addiction and the never-ending spinoffs of associated crimes from robberies, retail thefts, shootings and others that tear at the very fabric of our great and prosperous community," he said. High 56F. Marshals Service; Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the West Virginia Air National Guard;U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and U.S. attorney's offices in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. In the first decades after World War II, during the early rumblings of the automobile age, Hagerstown continued to thrive, becoming a trucking hub as well a rail hub. The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division; and Sheriff Douglas Mullendore of the Washington County Narcotics Task Force. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. I mean you can kind of look at it as a small part of the community that we you know are dealing with but we know its not just at the end of security road, washignton gardens that end of town, its all over the town, said Sgt. Instead, he sought help by way of Suboxone (the commercial name for a combination of buprenorphineand naloxone), which he considers a miracle. If we were somehow able to turn around the [addiction] numbers today, it would take another 20 years to shake off the damage., police investigating a burglary on West Franklin Street. HAGERSTOWN, Md. A mortality rate increase for any first-world demographic group had been virtually unheard of for decades, with the exception of Russian men after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a phenomenon blamed on soaring alcoholism rates. Butler is being held at the Caroline County Detention Center without bond. Their daughter, who grew up playing soccer and basketball, became hooked on pills by 18 and then turned to heroin. Since the start of the addiction crisis, which now kills more in the U.S. than car accidents and gun violence combined, emergency rescue calls have tripled in Hagerstown. DEA agents and partner agencies in Western Maryland are seeing a resurgence of one-pot meth labs in the area -- noting more incidents of meth labs in the area this year than the last 5 years combined. Three Hagerstown residents face drug charges after suspected heroin and suspected methamphetamine with a street value of approximately $50,000 was seized along with $9,000 in cash and several firearms during a drug bust this week involving multiple agencies, officials said. According to a 2016 report from the U.S. surgeon general, only one in 10 people with an addiction problem receives treatment. Those kind of manufacturing jobs generally pulled up stakes for cheaper labor in the South or overseas, a trend that has continued. A Hagerstown appliance store owner is charged with using it as a front for an illegal drug operation estimated to havehandled millions of dollars worth of drugs and proceeds, according to federal authorities. Six years ago, at an I-81 coalition meeting of stakeholders, Western Maryland state police commander Lt. Mike Fluharty coined the phrase Heroin Highway to describe Hagerstowns I-81/I-70 nexus. 544,514 views Jun 30, 2016 $24 million dollars was found stuffed in the wall of a home in what's being called one police department's biggest cash seizure to date. George Wallace campaigned here in 1968 and 1972. During the early morning hours of December 20 th, the Allegany County Sheriff's Office with the assistance of numerous allied agencies executed search and seizure warrants at three separate locations in the Town of Westernport. Inside the bedroom, Heather Strausbaugh sat talking with her client the conversation ranged from nightlife and bars to their families. EASTON, Md. After several months of investigation and the help of several agencies, nine people have been indicted for allegedly being apart of a drug trafficking organization in two Maryland Eastern Shore counties. Joshua Reed, one count of distribution of heroin. The task force said Oliver was previously arrested by Hagerstown Police Department officers last Wednesday for fleeing on foot from a car accident in the south end of Hagerstown. This was a normal kid, the daughter of a respected ex-city cop. Police seized more than 80 pounds of meth, 200 bags of fentanyl, more than two dozen guns and $135,000 in cash in a massive drug bust in Montgomery County. Hagerstown, Washington County closer to seeing some opioid settlements, Fatal drug overdoses hit record levels during COVID, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy, Ana Ercilia Luna, 36, of Hagerstown and the Dominican Republic, Juan Manuel De La Rosa-Tejeda, also known as Little Papi, 35, of Hagerstown and the Dominican Republic, Daniel Inoa-Rodriguez, also known as Danny, 21, of Hagerstown, Tyrone Lewis, also known as "Roc," 42, of Hagerstown, Edwin Orrillio, also known as J Money, 34, of Hagerstown, Carlos M. Nunez-Arias, also known as Charlote, 51, of Hagerstown, Edson Velasquez-Lopez, 50, of Martinsburg, Chelsea Nicole Pinkcett, 33, of Martinsburg, Ronald MichaelBowers, 52, of Martinsburg, Devron Jerel Brown, also known as Country, 33, of Martinsburg. Bernard had high praise for the cooperative efforts of the agencies involved, saying "they did a tremendous job. Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m. TTY users may call any government office through the Maryland Relay Service 1-800-735-2258, Drug Activity Phone Tip Line 301-223-2632. Margerette Derosiers, 28, of Federalsburg, Maryland. Investigators have seized 8.6 kilograms of cocaine, 1.02 kilograms of heroin and 12 ounces of cocaine base. 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October of 2011, I woke up one day and thought, this is the day you die or the day you get clean. Most arent even here to get clean but to get by. NEWARK, NJTwo members of an alleged drug trafficking ring based . Domestic Cannabis Suppression / Eradication Program, Red Ribbon Toolkit - Resources For Your Community, DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, Intelligence Research Specialist Job Announcements, Schedule A Hiring Authority: Intelligence Research Specialist, Privacy Impact Assessment and Management Information Systems, Victim Witness Assistance Program Resources. She tried treatment and rehab several times, and even laid down on the familys lawn once, begging her father to shoot her to put her out of her misery. Before long, he was buying heroin because it was cheaper than pills, and he went from snorting to injecting it, simply to maintain the same highand eventually just to function, if you could call it that. Holland is being held at the Dorchester County Detention Center without bond. He blames forces beyond the citys reach, as well as futile and often misguided leadership. Indirectly, they could have a hand at reversing the public health crises in the long run, civic leaders say. U.S. Attorney's Office December 21, 2012. Additionally, through further investigation, law enforcement determined that Smith supplied narcotics to Tyler and Eddie Ware, who were Hagerstown, Maryland heroin and fentanyl drug dealers. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, Magnitude 2.0 earthquake reaches Montgomery County, Best smart home devices for older users, according, How to get started on spring cleaning early, according, Worried about your student using ChatGPT for homework? U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for October 7, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. They buy the stuff to cut it, the right color dye, and press in a number or an initial, and it looks like the real thingPercocet or whatever.. In truth, Hagerstown has a higher poverty rate than Baltimore City, a higher percentage of people under 65 with a disability, lower home-ownership rates, and a lower percentage of its workforce with college degrees. On at least 30 separate occasions between April 8 and May 8, 2019, Smith visited Tyler Wares residence. A huge component of this initiative includes a $40-million effort, started in 2017, which will expand three key institutionsthe University System of Maryland at Hagerstown, the Maryland Theatre, and Barbara Ingram School for the Artswith a slated completion date of spring of 2020. A list of the indicted individuals is available on the U.S. Department of Justice website. Cameron Tibbs, one counts of distribution of heroin. In 2019, there were 119 non-fatal and 24 fatal overdoses reported in Allegany County. Citing a release from the U . Jackie Devon Thompson, 41, of Frederick, Md. She talks enthusiasticallyand genuinelyabout the $40-million downtown revitalization effort and Hagerstowns future. Grant was treated at Meritus Medical Center and released to authorities, Kerns said. A handful, with newer haircuts and cars, might be professionalssomewhere in this politically conservative county. United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA and the Washington County Narcotics Task Force for their work in the investigation. It's hard to imagine Hagerstown and similar cities receiving restitution anywhere near the true cost of the opioid epidemic and officials acknowledge that. The loot was wrapped in bundles. As stated in his plea agreement, on August 9, 2019, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Smiths Hagerstown, Maryland residence. (Photos from the Frederick County Sheriff's Office) Theres an unmistakable world-wearinesswritten into their faces. Kevin Simmers, a retired Hagerstown police officer, lost his 19-year-old daughter to an overdose and is now building a womens recovery center, Brookes House. The epidemic has not peaked yet by any means, says Mike Piercy, director of the Washington County Department of Social Services. Others sell or trade their methadone or bupe (opioid medications used to suppress withdrawal symptoms) to buy the real thing, faking drug tests to game the system.
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