Judge declines to toss fatal drug delivery case against Derry Twp. man

Drug delivery resulting in death charges will stand against a Derry Township man accused of selling the lethal dose of fentanyl-laced heroin that killed a Greensburg man in 2017.

In a ruling issued Monday, Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani said there has been no violation of the right to a speedy trial for Glenn Levtzow, who was charged by police last year with selling the drugs used in the Nov. 18, 2017, fatal overdose of Ryan Powell, 34, in his East Pittsburgh Street apartment. Powell died two days later at Excela Health Westmoreland hospital.

Levtzow, 37, contended that because his case failed to go to trial within one year of his arrest, the criminal charges should be dismissed.

The judge ruled that although the drug delivery resulting in death charge was not filed until last year, prosecutors said the case against Levtzow was initiated months earlier when he and another woman were charged with child endangerment and drug offenses after police said they fled the scene of Powell’s overdose and were found in a car with two young children.

Court administrators said Levtzow’s trial was scheduled for last December and again in February but was delayed because it was behind older cases on the court list. The case also was listed for the week-long trial term in April, but was delayed in lieu of another case.

“As any delay was attributed to judicial delay, the court finds that Mr. Levtzow’s speedy trial rights have not been violated,” Feliciani ruled.

Levtzow was released from jail in May on nominal bond. He had been held without bond since his arrest.

A date for his trial is yet to be scheduled.