FBI seizes nearly $1.5 million in cash related to May 5 drug raid
Nearly $1.5 million in cash was seized during a May 5 raid conducted in Fayette County, according to an FBI notice filed Friday.
According to a notice released from the U.S. Department of Justice’s asset forfeiture division, the bulk of the cash — $930,142 — was seized from Joseph Croftcheck at 120 Martha Ave., Hopwood. The notice also lists the remaining money seized, and from whom and where it was taken:
n $194,593 from Rodney Harris at 120 Cleveland Avenue, Uniontown
n $15,465 from Leslie Blakey at 16 Oakland Avenue, Uniontown
n $325,120 from Andre Saunders at 337 Paulette Avenue, Uniontown
n $5,497 from Sidney Winfrey at 350 Brownfield Lane, Uniontown
n $14,091 from a 2011 GMC Acadia registered to Winfrey and Virginia Shanefelter, found in the possession of Winfrey
The notice states the cash seized from Winfrey was pursuant to a federal statute that allows the government to seize funds derived from illegal gambling.
The remaining cash, according to the notice, was seized pursuant to a federal statute that grants the government the right to seize “all moneys, negotiable instruments, securities, or other things of value furnished or intended to be furnished by any person in exchange for a controlled substance”.
None of the people listed has been charged with any wrongdoing.
The notice indicated that of the cash seized from Croftcheck, $8,420 was taken from his pants pocket, which the remaining money was taken from a safe at his home. The cash seized from Harris and Saunders came from the master bedrooms and safes in their respective homes, the notice stated.
The money taken from Blakey came from a third floor bedroom of the Oakland Avenue property.
Authorities said that $2,265 of the $5,497 seized from Winfrey, who has a prior conviction in Fayette County Court for illegal gambling, was taken from his person, while the remainder was taken from his home on Brownfield Lane.
Friday’s notice comes on the heels of a July 8 forfeiture action filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee J. Karl against real estate at 224 Willow Way, Uniontown, listed as being owned by AJSA Enterprises, LLC, with a business contact address of 140 Easy St., Uniontown.
Saunders is the sole proprietor of the company, and “has been the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation conducted by the FBI for violations of federal law, including the distribution of controlled substances,” according to that filing.
According to the filing, investigators found 971 grams — just over 2.1 pounds — of heroin inside a hydraulic “trap” or hidden compartment, in the 2008 BMW in Saunders’ storage unit. At Saunders’ home, investigators also found more than $325,000 in cash stored in vacuum sealed plastic bags, five luxury watches and seven cell phones, as well as two cell phones that had been either smashed or submerged in water.
The investigation also revealed that Saunders had bought and traded in at least 11 luxury vehicles since 2010 and had bank deposits significantly higher than indicated by his income.
On May 5, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton acknowledged that the FBI and various police agencies executed federal search warrants at 11 locations in Fayette County “as part of an ongoing federal investigation.”
Allegations of illegal gambling have been filed against Winfrey in the past. In 2010, he was arrested for running an illegal betting operation out of a Republic pharmacy and later sentenced to one year of probation.
According to police, the investigation into Winfrey began in April 2009 after an informant said Winfrey was a “known bookie” in the Uniontown area, and he was known to keep large sums of money on hand at his home.
Police said surveillance confirmed that Winfrey met with various people in a back room of the pharmacy to “collect payments and make payouts.”
In October 2010, Winfrey’s home was searched and more than $74,000 in cash was found in bedrooms in the home. Also found were financial documents, raffle tickets, unsold raffle tickets, raffle-ticket stubs, bland promissory notes, financial statements and gambling documents and records, police said.