A Pottsville man was charged with selling methamphetamine and heroin in the city after a search of his residence by law enforcement confirmed that he was engaged in drug sales, officials said Thursday.
David Rich, 48, of the 300 block of Spring Garden Street, was arrested Wednesday at his residence after a search warrant was served there, according to the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s office, which conducted the investigation with State Police.
He was charged with two counts of possession with intent to deliver narcotics, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, and lesser charges, officials said.
District Judge Anthony Kilker of Shenandoah was the on-call magistrate and arraigned Rich before committing him to Schuylkill County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail while Rich awaited further court action, officials said.
During the month of February, the drug task force of the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s office and the vice/narcotics unit of Pennsylvania State Police, Troop L, which is based in Reading, began an investigation into the distribution of methamphetamine in Pottsville, according to a press release from the DA’s office.
Investigators obtained a court-authorized search warrant on Tuesday for the residence on Spring Garden Street, and the two agencies executed the warrant on Wednesday.
Court documents gave this account:
Upon arrival officers found Rich outside the residence and detained him before conducting the search.
Inside the residence they found clear sandwich bags containing suspected heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana, along with nine envelopes containing suspected heroin, two loading devices, one digital scale, and other materials related to selling narcotics.
When Rich was interviewed, he made numerous statements indicating that he was involved in the sale of methamphetamine and heroin from the residence, and admitted that he possessed those substances.
The suspected narcotics were field tested and confirmed to be methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana.