Grand jury indicts suspected dealer busted with 1,000 packets of fentanyl in Monroeville sting

A North Braddock man who police say scuffled with several officers after pulling up to a Monroeville parking lot with 1,000 packets of fentanyl inside his car has been indicted on drug and gun charges by a federal grand jury.

Darion Ethridge, 21, is accused of trying to flee police who say they were tipped off to his arrival as part of a sting operation involving local officers as well as detectives with the state Attorney General’s Office, court records show.

Ethridge is the sole defendant in the three-count indictment made public Wednesday, Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman said.

Kaufman announced the indictment a week after initial charges were filed via a criminal complaint when Ethridge was taken into custody.

Investigators say they received a tip matching Ethridge’s description and car would be bringing 10 bricks of heroin to the 2700 block of Mosside Boulevard in Monroeville last Thursday.

Officers stopped Ethridge for a traffic violation, according to investigators.

He refused to get out of his car and “tried to drive away from officers but drove to the dead-end section of the parking lot,” the complaint said. Ethridge then left his vehicle and got into “a brief physical altercation with a detective before running away across two parking lots.”

He ran onto Northern Pike — where he stopped traffic — and resisted multiple police officers before he was caught, the complaint said.

In addition to the 1,000 stamp bags containing heroin and fentanyl — or 20 bricks — officers said they found a fully loaded, stolen firearm in the car that Ethridge was driving.

He faces charges of possessing with the intent to distribute a mixture containing fentanyl and heroin, carrying a firearm illegally because he’s a convicted felon and using a firearm in furtherance of a drug- trafficking offense.

If convicted on all counts, Ethridge could face a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $1 million, according to Kaufman. The firearm charge could add an additional five years in prison.

Monroeville police and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office led the investigation with help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ira M. Karoll is prosecuting the case.