Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said Tuesday that a Beaver County man and over a dozen others have been charged with trafficking crack cocaine, cocaine, and fentanyl.
Between April 2023 and August 2024, Korrtezz Martin, 34, and 13 alleged co-conspirators are charged with trafficking cocaine and pressed fentanyl pills in Beaver, Allegheny, and Washington counties. On Tuesday, ten of the fourteen were arrested.
Martin, who was taken into custody on Tuesday, faces charges of illegal firearm possession, criminal conspiracy, dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity, corrupt organisations, possession with intent to distribute, and criminal use of a communication service. The bail amount for him is $500,000.
According to the attorney general’s office, the investigative grand jury concluded that Martin was at the head of a drug trafficking network that used a network of runners. Officials concluded Martin and his associates were high-level dealers in the area during the course of the investigation.
“Our Bureau of Narcotics Investigation worked diligently to identify the leader of this criminal enterprise and his conspirators, which resulted in charges that put a stop to this network of fentanyl dealers,” Sunday said. “Drug traffickers push poisons into our communities without a care for the lives put at risk. My office will continue to vigorously prosecute traffickers who value dollars over human lives.”
The arrests on Tuesday were aided by members of the Beaver County Drug Task Force, Beaver County District Attorney’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police, and the Drug Enforcement Agency’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program.
Charges against the additional defendants were announced by the attorney general’s office:
- Edward Reynolds, 33, Dion Eberhardt, 35, Mara Hieber, 29, Michael Motton, 34, Daphne Scott, 51, Victoria Jones, 31, Chelsea Durr, 33, Breanna Lewandowski, 21, Tyler McQuaid, 36, Jack Balser, 31 and Katrina Balser, 35: Possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and deliver, criminal conspiracy of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and deliver, criminal use of a communication facility, corrupt organizations and dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity. Following their arrests, bail was set at $500,000 for Scott, $250,000 for Motton, $150,000 for McQuaid, $125,000 for Jack Balser, $100,000 for Katrina Balser, and $50,000 for Jones and Durr.
- Timothy Namath, 40: Possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, criminal conspiracy of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, criminal use of a communication facility, corrupt organizations, dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.
- Courtney Goode, 30: Corrupt organizations and dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity. Goode is being held on $100,000 bail.
The case is being prosecuted by Drug Strike Force Section Senior Deputy Attorney General Kara Cotter.
The attorney general’s office stated that all defendants are deemed innocent until and unless proven guilty, and that criminal charges and any discussion of them are only accusations.
