Greene County man arrested for selling heroin
A Rices Landing man is behind bars after selling heroin — some of which tested positive for fentanyl — to an undercover police officer.
Jeffrey Speer, 28, of 135 Hodge Ave. was arrested Thursday and charged with 12 felony counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, six misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and a felony count of criminal use of a communication facility.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Det. Michael Hampe of the Greene County Drug Task Force, Speer sold 88 stamp bags of heroin to Hampe and a criminal informant over six encounters between April and June.
On two occasions in April, the substance Speer delivered tested positive for fentanyl, a synthetic opiate used to increase potency.
Fentanyl-laced heroin is believed to be the cause of several recent fatal overdoses in southwestern Pennsylvania. Last week, two men in Fayette County died of suspected fentanyl-related heroin overdoses, and earlier this month eight overdoses were recorded in Washington County over a span of 70 minutes.
The bags containing fentanyl sold by Speer were marked “Jaguar” and “War and Peace” on the packaging, according to the affidavit.
Speer was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Louis M. Dayich and put in Greene County jail on $25,000 straight bond.
His preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 9.