6 more accused in scheme to get drugs into Westmoreland jail

Six more people have been charged in connection with an alleged yearlong scheme that used fake legal mail to deliver drugs to the Westmoreland County Prison.

Five men were inmates at the time of the alleged offenses and the sixth was a girlfriend of one of the defendants, according to court papers.

Tywan Devante David, 22, of Pittsburgh was arraigned Monday on charges of corrupt organizations, conspiracy, drug possession, criminal use of a communication facility and related offenses.

Awaiting arraignment on similar charges are Tarrae William Johnson, 28, of SCI-Greene; Shaquille Edward Pollard, 27, of SCI-Albion; Derrick Lamont Hart, 51, of Pittsburgh; Bari Coleman, 28, of Pittsburgh and Takeya Shantail Woods, 24, of Jeannette.

Investigators unraveled the scheme after finding a sheet of paper detailing the operation that was left in the Hempfield lockup’s library by Coleman, according to court documents. Then, they listened to inmate phone conversations to intercept packages containing synthetic marijuana and staked out hearings at the county courthouse.

The first arrests were made last month.

Jail officials in June 2018 started giving inmates photocopies instead of actual mail over concerns that the parcels might contain K2, or synthetic marijuana. After the change, county Detective James Williams said in criminal complaints that the “inmates switched to a scheme where it is shipping in supposedly legal mail.”

Police said inmates would contact their wives, girlfriends or others to arrange for mail soaked in or sprayed with K2 to be sent into the facility or delivered in person during court hearings.

Investigators said Coleman used his GED classes in January 2019 to connect inmates on other units, including Johnson, to his girlfriend who allegedly helped get the drugs into the jail. Hart is accused of using Coleman’s girlfriend to get fake legal mail sent to him in January 2019, according to court papers.

Investigators said the purported legal mail was marked with the return address of a Pittsburgh attorney who didn’t have a client at the jail. Items with that return address were mailed to Pollard and Coleman in January 2019, according to court papers.

Some of those mailings later tested positive for synthetic marijuana.

On July 22, detectives conducted a stakeout at the courthouse in downtown Greensburg after a confidential informant tipped them off. David and two other inmates were set for hearings that day and detectives said they saw Woods, the girlfriend of an inmate arrested in the scheme last month, and a second woman carrying papers outside of court that were later passed to the three suspects.

Investigators the next day found papers in David’s cell that later tested positive for synthetic marijuana, according to court papers.

None of the suspects had attorneys listed in their new cases. David was being held on $100,000 bail. A May 15 preliminary hearing is set. Pollard and Johnson, both state prison inmates, are set for arraignment during the next week. Arrest warrants have been issued for Coleman, Hart and Woods.

The criminal complaint lists 10 inmates who were involved. One has not been charged. Five women were identified as “conspiring sources,” but just one has been charged.

Last month, charges were filed in connection with the alleged conspiracy against Stefan S. Houser, 30, of Vandergrift; Dameon Jerod Hill, 30, of Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood; Maurice Williams, 25, of Jeannette; and Sammie Edward Lane Jr., 31. Houser, Williams and Hill are inmates at the jail. Lane is an inmate at SCI-Greene.