More ‘Snail Mail’ Defendants Have Drug Charges Held for Court

BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – Four defendants in the “Snail Mail” drug  trafficking case recently had their cases transferred to the Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas.

District Judge Greg Bazylak ordered the following charges held for court against Larry Dean, 58, of Mayport, Pa.:

– Corrupt Organizations – Employee, Felony 1
– Conspiracy to Violate 911b1, 911b2, 911b3, Felony 1
– Conspiracy – Manufacture, Delivery, or Possession With Intent to Manufacture or Deliver, Felony (two counts)
– Manufacture, Delivery, or Possession With Intent to Manufacture or Deliver, Felony (18 counts)

Dean remains lodged in the Jefferson County Jail on $250,000.00 cash bail.

Dale Hanlin, 66, of Cooksburg, Pa., waived his preliminary hearing, and Bazylak ordered the following charges held for court:

– Corrupt Organizations – Employee, Felony 1
– Conspiracy to Violate 911b1, 911b2, 911b3, Felony 1
– Conspiracy – Manufacture, Delivery, or Possession With Intent to Manufacture or Deliver, Felony (two counts)
– Manufacture, Delivery, or Possession With Intent to Manufacture or Deliver, Felony (seven counts)

Hanlin remains in the Jefferson County Jail on $250,000.00 cash bail.

Daniel Hopkins, 50, Tucson, Arizona, waived his preliminary hearing, and Bazylak ordered the following charges held for court:

– Corrupt Organizations – Employee, Felony 1
– Conspiracy to Violate 911b1, 911b2, 911b3, Felony 1
– Conspiracy – Manufacture, Delivery, or Possession With Intent to Manufacture or Deliver, Felony (two counts)
– Manufacture, Delivery, or Possession With Intent to Manufacture or Deliver, Felony (18 counts)

Hopkins remains in the Jefferson County Jail on $250,000.00 cash bail.

Matthew Watson, 30, of Luthersburg, waived his preliminary hearing, and Bazylak ordered the following charges held for court:

– Manufacture, Delivery, or Possession With Intent to Manufacture or Deliver, Felony (two counts)

Unable to post $50,000.00 cash bail, Watson remains lodged in the Jefferson County Jail.

The cases are working their way through the court system.

Details of the case:

Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced charges against 30 suspected drug dealers following a multi-agency effort dubbed “Operation Snail Mail.”

The charges stem from the shipment and sale of $1.6 million in crystal methamphetamine in Jefferson, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, and Forest counties over the 18 months.

The crystal meth was shipped to Jefferson County and the surrounding area through the U.S. mail from drug dealers in Arizona and California. It was then sold throughout North Central Pennsylvania by a network of 30 drug dealers.

The 35 pounds of crystal meth that they sold – broken up into ¼ and ½ gram doses – produced between 32,000 and 64,000 doses of the drug that were sold in the five northcentral counties.

Investigators used a series of controlled purchases, court-approved electronic surveillance, package interceptions, and other tactics to identify the drug dealers involved.

The cases will be prosecuted in Jefferson County by Senior Deputy Attorney General Marnie Sheehan-Balchon and District Attorney Jeff Burkett, appointed a Special Deputy Attorney General in this investigation.