1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Michelle Lynn Spain, 48, of Preston, Maryland, James Eugene Simms, 36, of Great Mills, Maryland. Frederick County Sheriff's Office Assists In Taking Down Major Drug Operation In Hagerstown Last Week February 13, 2023 - 3:40 pm Five people were arrested; large quantities of drugs confiscated. "If they just had a pipefine," he said. Spain is being held at the Caroline County Detention Center without bond. Brooke died while waiting for insurance approval for a $700 monthly shot of Vivitrol, which reduces cravings and withdrawal symptoms. She can be reached via email at julieg@herald-mail.com. Six years ago, at an I-81 coalition meeting of stakeholders, Western Maryland state police commander Lt. Mike Fluharty coined the phrase Heroin Highway to describe Hagerstowns I-81/I-70 nexus. Multiple law enforcement agencies ultimately provided assistance with the investigation. Two additional private methadone treatment centers have since opened in the area, not to mention the Washington County Health Departments outpatient addiction program, which treated more than 11,000 patients between 2013 and its closing this spring due to state budget cuts. A Maryland State Police corporal who occasionally works out of the Hagerstown barrack was arrested Saturday for allegedly leaking case information and abetting an illegal drug operation, according to federal court documents. Their daughter, who grew up playing soccer and basketball, became hooked on pills by 18 and then turned to heroin. He was charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin and possession of heroin. o understand the DNA of Hagerstown, you have to go back to the 19th-century industrial boom. The search warrants were a result of a multi- state . Images courtesy of Hagerstown police Department. High 56F. Theres an unmistakable world-wearinesswritten into their faces. This isnt political. They dont stand a chance., The societal ripple effect of the opioid epidemic cant be overstated, says Piercy, who doesnt have to look any farther than outside his downtown Potomac Street office window to witness people nodding and passing out. Hagerstown, MD 2 days ago. Justin Ernest Riggs, 33, was arrested Saturday and is accused of leaking information to a drug trafficking organization . And for the past two-and-a-half decades, the city has taken a public health approach to addiction, offering methadone programs, needle exchanges, HIV testing, and inpatient treatment opportunities before the pharmaceutical industry dumped OxyContin and other opioids onto a nave market. Inside the bedroom, Heather Strausbaugh sat talking with her client the conversation ranged from nightlife and bars to their families. We need to maintain a sense of hope. At that time, police apprehended Beckette, who was inside the duplex, Kerns said. icki Sterling, director of the Washington County Health Departments Division of Behavorial Health Services, says the turning point for the county in addressing the opioid epidemic was the death of former Hagerstown police sergeant Kevin Simmers daughter, Brooke, who overdosed on heroin 10 days after she had been released from a four-month prison stay. Its not the white picket fence. Grant was treated at Meritus Medical Center and released to authorities, Kerns said. Scrubbing Baltimores Marble Steps Was My Very First Job, How Actress Rachel Hilsons Baltimore Roots Influence Her Work Today, The Mount Vernon Virtuosi is Much More Than a Chamber Orchestra, Deer Park, MD Was Once an Elite VacationlandThanks in Part to its Famous Water, Artist James Evans Uses Photographs and Words to Combat Prejudice in Nature, Baltimore School for the Arts Debuts a Student-Run Newspaper. Everyone had a story., n its heyday, Hagerstown built the massive Fairchild transport planes that carried U.S. troops across the Pacific during the Korean War; post-war, they made Boeing jets. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Hagerstown is still a meat and potatoes kind of place, says Elliott. Police seized more than 80 pounds of meth, 200 bags of fentanyl, more than two dozen guns and $135,000 in cash in a massive drug bust in Montgomery County. The number of child abuse cases has gone up. The Frederick County Sheriff's Office arrested and charged 12 people in a drug bust Wednesday. This was a normal kid, the daughter of a respected ex-city cop. This place is a blessing. Grant was charged with five counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance that was not marijuana and two counts of distributing narcotics, according to online court records. Bernard said agents serveda search warrant at the store in June and seized approximately $500,000 worth of drugs, including a kilogram of heroin and nine kilograms of cocaine. Economists studying national trends say people should simply vacate towns like Hagerstownand seek work elsewhere. His associate, 33-year-old Rodney Gaines, or "Butta" was also arrested. Local Hagerstown, MD. The following agencies maintain drop boxes to drop off your not-needed prescription medication. HAGERSTOWN (WJZ) --Seventeen Hagerstown residents and one Frederick resident were among 34 arrested Wednesday morning on indictments in a drug trafficking conspiracy. Tyler and Eddie Ware pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl on October 28, 2020, and January 11, 2021; respectively. Others arrive in pajamas and sweatpants, barely awake, clutching telltale lockboxes for take-home doses. Some NTF agents are even deputized by the DEA as Federal Task Force Officers (TFO's). Still, they are something of a Hail Mary pass for municipalities. We have a long way to go, but the school has brought life downtown, Hovermale says. According to Bernard, those charged are: Lenin Erasmo Luna Mota, also known as "Papi," 48, of Hagerstown, Maryland, and the Dominican Republic The Washington Narcotics Task Force has made 11 arrests in connection to a local drug trafficking organization investigation. A sitting train and truck behind a lot along West Franklin Street. Saturday mornings are the busiest days of the week because the drug treatment clinic is closed on Sundaysmeaning that several hundred people begin showing up at 5 a.m. to ensure that they cancollect their extra days supply of methadone or buprenorphine. Perhaps as many as three-quarters of those in local methadone programs, according to recovering addicts interviewed for this story, still get high, using coke, crack, ecstasy, Spice, or benzos like Xanax, which are particularly dangerous in combination with methadone. (In 2007, three Purdue executives pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the misbranding of OxyContin and paid $34.5 million in fines, while the company agreed to pay $600 million to resolve a Department of Justice investigation.) HAGERSTOWN, Md. Its a problem, says former Hagerstown police chief Victor Brito, who resigned in May to lead the Rockville force. On at least 30 separate occasions between April 8 and May 8, 2019, Smith visited Tyler Wares residence. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Plainspoken but good-natured, and a well-respected journalist, Elliott started atTheHerald-Mailin 1970. Including Brookes father. The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division; and Sheriff Douglas Mullendore of the Washington County Narcotics Task Force. Instead, you go get high and forget about it for a while., Forty-year-old Brooks Zombro, who has lived in Hagerstown his whole life, puts it another way: Hagerstown is a manufacturing town, then we lost all those factory jobs our parents and grandparents had, [and] it has become a playground for big box retail that has all but eliminated and destroyed our downtowns small business district. The operation was further supported by the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Initiative, the Governors Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services, and the Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network Initiative. Kristie Lockhard, a 38-year-old recovering addict volunteering at the event, says when she first started using heroin in 1999, she would drive to Baltimore two or three times a day to buy it. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for October 7, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. Breezy Jill Beckette, 22, of 807 Hamilton Blvd. The trail, which he helped develop, is primarily for economic development but also gives residents a sense of place and pride in their community. We have more kids living with their grandparents and a greater need for foster parents. Its a phone call away. . For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorneys Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Neither did the Washington County health officer or then-Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith, who questioned the wisdom of opening a methadone clinic in a city that, he claimed, did not have a heroin problem. On June 29, the task force said agents presented cases to a Grand Jury that resulted in the indictment of 16 Hagerstown residents. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Some of the NFT agents are also federally deputized members of the DEA, which gives these local agents enforcement powers anywhere in the United States. nyone wishing to report narcotics information is encouraged to contact the task force by calling 301-791-3205, emailing, Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, Best smart home devices for older users, according, How to get started on spring cleaning early, according, Worried about your student using ChatGPT for homework? While the most pressing question confronting Hagerstownand other resource-deprived towns in Maryland such as Frostburg, Cumberland, Cambridge, Snow Hill, Elkton, and Edgewoodmay be how to get immediate help to those struggling with addiction, the broader question is more vexing: How does an isolated, blue-collar town recover from the worst drug epidemic in U.S. historyon top of45 years of deindustrialization? A huge component of this initiative includes a $40-million effort, started in 2017, which will expand three key institutionsthe University System of Maryland at Hagerstown, the Maryland Theatre, and Barbara Ingram School for the Artswith a slated completion date of spring of 2020. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. While he fled, Grant fell and injured himself, Kerns said. He is being held at the Washington County Detention Center on a $80,000 bond. Hitachi Rail Factory "on track" in Hagerstown. osh Morningstar could be the poster boy for the use of prescription opioids gone awry. Earlier this spring, Keller, the city councilwoman who lost her best friend to an overdose, announced that the city would be joining several hundred municipalities, counties, and states in pursuing legal action against the nations largest drugmakers, alleging that they played a key role in launching the opioid epidemic. Three Hagerstown residents face drug charges after suspected heroin and suspected methamphetamine with a street value of approximately $50,000 was seized along with $9,000 in cash and several firearms during a drug bust this week involving multiple agencies, officials said. "This is the largest drug bust in my time as a prosecutor and as the elected state's attorney," Caroline County State's Attorney Joe Riley said. Law enforcement determined that the reported vehicle was registered to Smith and that the unit had been rented to Smith under a fraudulent New York State drivers license that bore Smiths photograph and the alias Michael Silver. For the past 44 years, since Valley Mall was built on the outskirts of town, shuttering the department stores, retail shops, restaurants, theaters, and five and dimes, there have been hopes of reviving Hagerstowns once-thriving city center. Six people in Hagerstown, Maryland, conspired to distribute enough fentanyl to kill 1 million people, or 25 times the population of Hagerstown, federal prosecutors say. During the early morning hours of December 20 th, the Allegany County Sheriff's Office with the assistance of numerous allied agencies executed search and seizure warrants at three separate locations in the Town of Westernport. Please provide as much information as possible, Your name and address/information is optional. Now, how many families do you know that have been affected by addiction? Stretching from New York to Tennessee and Baltimore to Utah respectively, I-81 and I-70 are two of the longest interstates in the U.S., and they intersect in Hagerstown. Prosecutors alleged they conspired to sell 100 grams or more of heroin, 500 grams or more of cocaine and . (It also broke a record last year with eight homicides, sending its per capita murder rate past Philadelphia and Chicago.). Christina Boward, two counts of distribution of heroin. Theyre bringing in students from nearby counties and occasionally out of state. A locked padlock Domestic Cannabis Suppression / Eradication Program, Red Ribbon Toolkit - Resources For Your Community, DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, Intelligence Research Specialist Job Announcements, Schedule A Hiring Authority: Intelligence Research Specialist, Privacy Impact Assessment and Management Information Systems, Victim Witness Assistance Program Resources. William Miller, one count of distribution of heroin. The person arrested on the outstanding warrant was Violet Benjamin, 53, of Hagerstown. It's hard to imagine Hagerstown and similar cities receiving restitution anywhere near the true cost of the opioid epidemic and officials acknowledge that. Grant also was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia; possession of needles related to drugs; possession of less than 10 grams of marijuana; creating a common nuisance through distributing narcotics; and escape in the second degree, according to Kerns and online court records. The NFT is housed within the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)at the DEAs Hagerstown Office. Because of that, its residents have more money and higher expectations, and a strong restaurant base and downtown arts and culture district has grown there, sustained by its community. EASTON, Md. After several months of investigation and the help of several agencies, nine people have been indicted for allegedly being apart of a drug trafficking organization in two Maryland Eastern Shore counties. Kimberly Thompson, one count of maintaining a common nuisance for distribution of a controlled dangerous substance. Police seized drugs, cash and weapons from the residence, Kerns said. Call (240) 382-2757 or get your auth barcode quickly online. More than 1,000 pounds of prescription medicine is collected in the first two hours of the event, which is held in an empty parking lot outside the county health offices. Corey Diehl, two counts of distribution of heroin. Add to all of this one more factor: Three prisons in Hagerstown, includings two state penitentiaries, have had a habit, according to local law enforcement officials, of leaving ex-offenders in town once theyre released. According to his guilty plea, on March 18, 2019, law enforcement received an anonymous tip from a Hagerstown, Maryland storage facility customer reporting that an individual driving a large SUV and a storage unit conducted a suspected drug deal at the facility. After being arrested on July 1, police said Oliver assaulted an officer and was found with a controlled dangerous substance. 3, in Hagerstowns North End; and Daniel Matthew Anderson, 28, of 1008 Security Road, Apt. Christine Jenkins, one count of distribution of heroin. On at least 30 separate occasions between April 8 and May 8, 2019, Smith visited Tyler Wares residence. I cannot count the number of friends who have died after I almost did, says Katie Wetzel, 27, a recovering addict in Hagerstown who is now married with three kids. The alleged traffickers distributed drugs in Caroline and Dorchester counties, as well as parts of Delaware, according to police, who said investigators from multiple agencies developed enough. Timothy Michael Ford, age 23 of Hagerstown, MD (1) Possession of heroin (2) Saturday mornings are the busiest days of the week because the drug treatment clinic is closed on Sundaysmeaning that several hundred people begin showing up at 5 a.m. to ensure that they can collect their extra day's supply . The rear of North and Locust Food Mart. Hagerstown, Washington County closer to seeing some opioid settlements, Fatal drug overdoses hit record levels during COVID, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy, Ana Ercilia Luna, 36, of Hagerstown and the Dominican Republic, Juan Manuel De La Rosa-Tejeda, also known as Little Papi, 35, of Hagerstown and the Dominican Republic, Daniel Inoa-Rodriguez, also known as Danny, 21, of Hagerstown, Tyrone Lewis, also known as "Roc," 42, of Hagerstown, Edwin Orrillio, also known as J Money, 34, of Hagerstown, Carlos M. Nunez-Arias, also known as Charlote, 51, of Hagerstown, Edson Velasquez-Lopez, 50, of Martinsburg, Chelsea Nicole Pinkcett, 33, of Martinsburg, Ronald MichaelBowers, 52, of Martinsburg, Devron Jerel Brown, also known as Country, 33, of Martinsburg. For the past three years, the Simmerses have been working to build Brookes House in Washington County. We get to engage and feel like were being a positive influence on the city.. a view from the abandoned hospital parking garage across from the antietam street clinic. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Mostly sunny skies with gusty winds. Smith accessed the storage unit on 39 separate occasions and obtained at least 250 grams of narcotics during his visits. This epidemic, largely caused by the pharmaceutical industrys complete lack of accountability or care about anyone or anything other than their pockets, has wreaked havoc on my city, Keller said.
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