Former Fayette drug kingpin held for court on threats charges; felony assault charges dropped
Ed Riedmann
Four counts of aggravated assault were dropped Tuesday against a former Fayette County drug kingpin accused of pointing a gun at another driver and trying to ram her car.
Following a preliminary hearing, Ronald Whethers, 66, of Masontown, was held for court on the remaining misdemeanor charges: terroristic threats, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.
Court documents alleged on Sept. 26, Whethers pulled up next to driver Justina Russman on Wilson Avenue in Uniontown and began screaming at her. As she turned onto Main Street, Whethers followed and attempted to ram into her car, according to his criminal complaint.
Russman was driving with two of her children and a grandchild at the time, she told police.
Charging documents said Whethers had started to pull a handgun from the small of his back when he and Russman were both stopped at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Bailey avenues.
Following his preliminary hearing, District Judge Jason Cox set Whethers’ bail at $60,000. He had previously been denied bail in the case. As of Tuesday afternoon, Whethers remained in Fayette County jail.
Prior to his arrest in September, Whethers had been free since 2023, when he was released from state prison 30 years after ordering a fatal assault on William Lucas of Monessen, who he had mistakenly suspected of stealing drugs from him. He was later sentenced to 15 to 30 years in state prison for third-degree murder, conspiracy and drug charges.
In 2022, his sentence on federal drug trafficking and conspiracy charges, originally for life, was reduced for the second time to 10 years supervised release.