Crack, meth, guns seized during raid at Vandergrift home; 2 people face felony charges

Two people are accused of being drug dealers and having illegal guns after state narcotics agents raided their home in Vandergrift early Tuesday afternoon.

The suspects are Melissa Marie Lange and Ronald Gene Sconish, both 47, and living in the 400 block of Jackson Avenue.

Both were charged with two felony counts of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver and failing to properly transfer the ownership of firearms, along with two misdemeanor gun charges.

Sconish was being held in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of a $75,000 cash bond. Lange was released from custody on a $50,000 unsecured bond, according to court records.

Lange faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec on Tuesday, June 6. Sconish’s hearing before the judge is scheduled for June 20.

Narcotics agents with the state Attorney General’s Office wrote in a criminal complaint that they got a warrant May 30 to search their Jackson Avenue home. They were outside watching when Lange left and drove away about 1:30 p.m.

The team, which included agents from the Westmoreland County Drug Task Force, entered the house and found three men, including Sconish, the complaint said. Police did not identify the other two men nor did they indicate whether they were charged.

Police said they found a container with 2.8 grams of crack cocaine inside, a large plastic bag filled with psychedelic mushrooms and a 7.57-gram bag of crystal methamphetamine.

Sconish also had a bundle of fentanyl in his possession when he was searched, authorities said.

Other evidence of drug dealing found included a digital scale covered in a white residue, packaging material, a drug “ledger” and $2,235 in cash, the complaint said.

Agents also confiscated a .357-caliber revolver that was reported stolen and a .22-caliber revolver that was registered to an Allegheny County man, the complaint said.

Two rifles and a shotgun also were removed from the house, along with various types of ammunition, according to the complaint.