Man pleads guilty to drug charges
Notice: Undefined variable: article_ad_placement3 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/single.php on line 128
A 25-year-old McKees Rocks man pleaded guilty in federal court last week to charges that he distributed heroin in Washington and Allegheny counties.
As part of his plea agreement and his 12-year jail sentence, Saul Lopes-Viera also admitted to selling balloons of “black tar” heroin to a woman on Feb. 11, 2011. Hours later, she shared the heroin with James O’Donnell, 30, of Muse. O’Donnell was found dead in a Canonsburg home in the early morning hours of Feb. 12 of a heroin overdose.
Black tar is a very potent form of heroin that at the time had been in heavy use in the Canonsburg area, said Canonsburg police Detective Sgt. Al Coghill.
“We believe it was responsible for numerous overdoses in the area,” Coghill said. “We believe it was being brought in from Pittsburgh. It was desirable by users because of the high potency.”
Canonsburg police and federal Drug Enforcement Agency investigators had been working on developing a case to find the source of the “black tar.”
After O’Donnell’s death, investigators were able to get information that identified Lopes-Viera. As the investigation continued, they were able to make arrangements to purchase the drug from Lopes-Viera. On March 8, 2011, he was arrested with just over two grams of the substance packaged in small, colored balooons.
An investigator working with the DEA said that since the arrest of Lopes-Viera, the supply of black tar has dried up not only in the Canonsburg area but in Pittsburgh. Investigators believe that Lopes-Viera was an integral part of the supply source for the drug.
Canonsburg police have an officer assigned to work with the DEA and that has resulted in a close working relationship, police Chief R.T. Bell said.
“The people in the business of selling drugs are being held accountable,” Bell said. “Courts are starting to look at cases differently, especially when the drugs result in an overdose death.”
Chartiers police Chief James Horvath, whose department assisted, said the problem with heroin had been going through the roof.
“This arrest helped us by getting one supplier out of the picture,” Horvath said of Lopes-Viera. “He was more than a local dealer, he was at a higher level than we usually deal with. I appreciate everyone’s efforts.”