Three arrested on drug charges in Donora
Heroin, crack and cash found inside a Donora home is displayed in the Washington County district attorney’s office.
Michael Bycil Williams
Joseph Lamont Drayton
Jobe Aaron Franks
When Donora police accompanied a state parole agent to a home on Thompson Avenue Wednesday afternoon, they were looking for a man wanted for failing to report to his parole officer.
What they found instead were more than 3,400 stamp bags of suspected heroin, raw heroin, crack and almost $4,000.
Arrested on drug charges by Washington County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force were Jobe Aaron Franks, 19, of 972 Thompson Ave., Donora, and Michael Bycil Williams, 21, and Joseph Lamont Drayton, 23, both of Philadelphia.
The agent, along with Donora police Superintendent James Brice and Officer Keith Charlton, arrived at the home about 2 p.m. They told the man who opened the door they were looking for Donald Franks, the father of Jobe Franks, on a parole violation. He told police he did not know if Donald Franks was there, but allowed officers to enter and told them he could hear a man talking somewhere in the house.
The state parole agent and Brice went to the kitchen to a door leading to the basement. An odor of marijuana was emanating from the basement. The two officers went to the basement and saw three men, later identified as Jobe Franks, Drayton and Williams, smoking marijuana.
All three men froze. The officers then spotted a large amount of suspected heroin on the bed in plain view.
The three men tried hide the drugs under a sheet on the bed, but were taken into custody.
Drayton reportedly tried to flee. He ran up the stairs to the front entrance, but the parole agent was able to grab him before he got out of the house.
Police then notified the task force of the find. The evidence was seized and brought to the police station, where it was turned over to task force detectives. Seized from the home were 3,403 stamp bags of suspected heroin, a bag containing a large amount of raw, unpackaged heroin, a bag with a large amount of suspected crack and $3,884. Police also took a large amount of drug paraphernalia including a scale, glycerine envelopes used for packaging heroin, razor blade, cellphone and an ink pad and stamper used to mark stamp bags.
“To find money and the drugs in the same place is very rare,” Brice said Thursday. “Usually it is one or the other.”
Brice said Thursday that police had not received any complaints of suspected drug activity at the home.
“Heroin comes into Washington County communities from larger source cities,” said District Attorney Eugene Vittone. “Two of the men arrested had just arrived in Donora. I am pleased that we were able to keep this large amount of heroin out of the Mon Valley communities.”
“We will continue to focus our law enforcement resources on prosecuting and eliminating dangerous drug dealers operating in the county,” he added.
Donald Franks was not at the home, Brice said.
All three are charged with four counts of possession with intent to deliver, seven counts of possession and eight counts of possession of paraphernalia and one count of criminal use of a communication facility. Drayton is also charged with flight to avoid apprehension.
All three were arraigned on the charges before District Judge Joshua Kanalis Franks and Williams were each placed in Washington County jail on $200,000 bond. Drayton is in jail on $250,000 bond. They are scheduled for a preliminary hearing Nov. 13 before District Judge Mark Wilson.