Attorney General's office says Arnold-based drug ring was active in Southwestern Pa., Ohio

The Pennsylvania Attorney’s General’s Office filed charges against six people who it said were involved in an Arnold-based drug trafficking organization that operated in Allegheny, Westmoreland and Armstrong counties and Cleveland.

Those charged Wednesday and Thursday were Michael Terrance Scott, 45, and Melinda Tavarez, 42, of Arnold; Joseph Michael Cook, 47, of New Kensington; Evelyn Marie Kemerer, 46, of Jeannette; Dayvon Pack, 29, of New Kensington; and Shawn Rome, 29, of Allegheny Township.

Criminal complaints filed in the case identified Scott as a mid-level dealer of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl who lived with Tavarez, his girlfriend, in an apartment on Arnold’s Drey Street. Cook, Kemerer, Pack and Rome were identified as members of Scott’s drug trafficking organization, according to the complaints.

Scott’s attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday. Tavarez’s attorney, Scott Bitar, declined to comment. None of the others had an attorney listed in court records.

A criminal complaint said the Attorney General’s Office began investigating the alleged organization in February.

Agents said they used a confidential information to make nine controlled drug buys from Scott between March 1 and March 9, with the informant buying about 3.6 ounces of fentanyl and nearly an ounce of crack cocaine, according to the complaint.

A Superior Court judge authorized the recording of communications on Scott’s cellphone in late April, and agents monitored his phone activity from April 28 through May 12, the complaint said.

“The monitoring of Michael Scott’s telephone, coupled with physical and electronic surveillance, confirmed the existence of an active fentanyl/heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine trafficking organization operating within Westmoreland County and Allegheny County,” the complaint states.

Agents executed a search warrant at Scott and Tavarez’s apartment on May 12. Scott drove away from the apartment before the warrant was carried out, but was stopped and taken into custody by Arnold police, while Tavarez was arrested at the apartment.

The complaint said agents seized bags of cocaine and fentanyl and digital scales from the apartment.

In criminal complaints, agents said Scott and Tavarez sold and delivered drugs to Cook, Kemerer, Pack and Rome.

Agents said Scott made four deliveries to Cook between May 4 and May 8. Agents said that on three occasions they saw Scott drive to an address on Meadow Avenue in East Deer. In one instance, on May 5, Tavarez delivered drugs to Cook in the 1800 block of Arnold’s Victoria Avenue, the complaint said.

The complaint said Cook was stopped by Arnold police, who found him in possession of crack cocaine and fentanyl. Cook told police he ordered the drugs from Scott, who had Tavarez deliver it, the complaint said.

Agents said Scott made three deliveries to Kemerer at locations in Arnold and New Kensington between May 2 and May 8. After New Kensington police stopped Kemerer for a traffic violation on May 8, the complaint said, she admitted to having cocaine in her purse. Police said she told them that she had been buying drugs from Scott for more than eight years, and she cooks the cocaine she buys to make crack cocaine and then “divvy it up” to others.

A complaint said Scott made five deliveries to Pack between May 3 and May 9. Agents executed a search warrant at Pack’s Ridge Avenue residence in New Kensington on May 14 and arrested Pack without incident. Inside the residence, agents said they found suspected marijuana, two digital scales with cocaine residue and $959 in cash.

Agents said that Rome had been in contact with Scott to order illegal narcotics on an almost daily basis. Scott was seen making three deliveries to Rome in Allegheny Township between April 29 and May 6.

Cook, Pack, Rome and Tavarez were arraigned Wednesday night and each sent to the Westmoreland County Prison on $100,000 bail.

Scott and Kemerer were arraigned Thursday morning. Kemerer was sent to jail on $50,000 bail, while Scott was denied bail.