POLICE: Weekly Police Blotter

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF:
On April 3rd at approximately 9:00PM, unknown actor(s) damaged a 41-year-old Wampum female victims vehicle. The unknown actor(s) left front window was damaged.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF:
Edward Allen Laurain, 54, of Ellwood City, is charged with Theft and Criminal Mischief after an incident on March 22nd. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximately 11:04AM, police were dispatched to the scene and were informed that another police office had began on a foot chase after Laurain after it was suspected he was stealing one of the outdoor central air units from the landlord’s property on Spring Avenue. After Laurain was caught, he denied the theft and damages he caused. He was placed in the Ellwood City Police Department after sufficient video evidence was charged with Theft and Criminal Mischief.

THEFT:
Trent Sirak, 21, of Ellwood City, is charged with Theft after an incident on March 11th. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximately 10:00AM, police were called after a report of theft of scrap pipe at a property on Chewton-Wurtemburg Road. Video evidence was captured of the pipes being taken without permission twice in that same day. The vehicles owner was traced and said that she had left the vehicle with another person because it was broken. When the second handler was called, he reported that Sirak took the vehicle to fix it.

ASSAULT:
Kiley Star Grinnell is charged with Simple Assault, Possession of Paraphernalia, Possession of Controlled Substances, and more after a domestic dispute at approximately 1:51AM on April 18th. According to a criminal complaint, police were dispatched to the victim’s residence on Crescent Avenue due to Grinnell throwing paint and spraying a garden hose at the house. The male victim stated that he and a friend returned home around midnight and had found Grinnell hiding in his closet. After confronting her about hiding, Grinnell became argumentitive and violent. Grinnell threw things at him, slapped him, and spilled paint inside the house the complaint relates. Police then searched Grinnell and found many items and narcotics on her person. All items were seized and secured. She was then transported to the Ellwood City Police Department.

POSSESSION:
Dawnette Bober, 49, of Ellwood City, is charged with the possession of narcotics after an incident occurring on February 23rd. According to a criminal complaint, and at approximately 11:04AM, police were dispatched for the report of found property and narcotics on Fountain Avenue near its intersection with Spring Avenue in Wayne Township. After looking through the items and narcotics, police found Bober’s ID. They took the items to Bobers residence and questioned her about them, which she reported all to be hers. All items were seized and secured.

DUI:
Nicole Householder, 27, of New Castle is charged with DUI after an incident happening on April 13th. According to criminal complaint, and at approximately 5:06PM and while driving, Householder wanted to pass a 59-year-old male of Wampum and rear-ended him in doing so. The victim’s vehicle rode the embankment for 20 yards before striking a utility pole. Both drivers were taken by NOGA EMS a nearby hospital.

DUI:
Hunter Rhys Brown, 19, of Fombell, is charged with DUI after an incident on March 21st. According to a report, at approximately 12:19AM, police were dispatched to a report of a single car crash in the area of North Camp Run Road. After arriving and making contact with Brown, Brown stated he was traveling at about 80MPH in a 45. It is reported he lost control of the car and overturned several times. Police noted a smell of alcohol on his breath. He was subjected to a Standard Field Sobriety test for which he failed. Brown was placed under arrest for DUI and was then transported to a nearby hospital for blood tests.

DRUG TRAFFICKING:
Anthony Besiso, 62, of New Brighton, pleaded guilty before United States Senior District Judge Nora Barry Fischer to possession with intent to distribute a quantity of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, US Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced on April 11th.

Between June 2021 and January 2022, the Beaver County Anti-Drug Task Force conducted an investigation into a drug trafficking organization in New Brighton. In connection with Besiso’s guilty plea, the Court was advised that numerous controlled purchase and surveillance operations demonstrated that Besiso would obtain methamphetamine from a source of supply in Ohio and then sell it to distributors in the Western District of Pennsylvania. On January 28, 2022, law enforcement executed a federal search warrant upon Besiso’s New Brighton residence, which resulted in the seizure of three digital scales and about 103 net grams of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.

Judge Fischer scheduled sentencing for July 19, 2024. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 20 years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $1 million, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant. The Beaver County Anti-Drug Task Force and Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Besiso.

FIREARMS CONVICTIONS:
A resident of Beaver Falls has been sentenced in federal court to 10 years of imprisonment on his convictions for possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of that drug trafficking crime, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced on April 11th.

United States District Judge Marilyn J. Horan imposed the sentence on Robert Carpenter Jr., 39.

According to information presented to the Court, on July 25, 2022, the Beaver Falls Police Department executed a search warrant upon an apartment used by Carpenter. From the master bedroom, officers recovered 41.65 grams of cocaine base, in the form commonly known as crack, 6.74 net grams of cocaine, and 30 pills in a nightstand that also contained Carpenter’s identification and two digital scales. A laboratory analysis confirmed that some pills contained fentanyl while others contained fluorofentanyl. In addition to the packaged narcotics, law enforcement seized two firearms, a 9mm caliber handgun and a 5.56 caliber semiautomatic rifle. Both firearms were loaded and had been reported stolen, with the semiautomatic rifle loaded with a 30-round capacity magazine and having an altered serial number.

United States Attorney Olshan commended the Beaver Falls Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Carpenter.

DRUG VIOLATIONS:
A resident of New Castle has been sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for committing fentanyl and cocaine trafficking crimes, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced April 11th.

United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Rayjzon Sams, 31, also ordering Sams to serve six years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

Sams previously pleaded guilty in this case to committing the following crimes in 2020 and 2021: (1) conspiring to distribute cocaine and crack, (2) distributing crack within 1,000 feet of a school, and (3) possessing fentanyl and crack with intent to distribute. According to information presented to the Court, Sams engaged in fentanyl and cocaine trafficking in Lawrence and Mercer counties despite several prior convictions and incarceration sentences from state prosecutions during the preceding 10 years, including for cocaine trafficking and aggravated assault. Sams was on bond and probation, subject to house arrest, at the time he was trafficking fentanyl and cocaine.

United States Attorney Olshan commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Pennsylvania State Police, Lawrence County Drug Task Force, Mercer County Drug Task Force, New Castle Police Department, Sharon Police Department, Hermitage Police Department, and Farrell Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Sams.

This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.