More Witnesses Testify to Drug Habits, Purchases in Operation Drive Thru

(GantDaily File Photo)

CLEARFIELD – When testimony resumed Friday during day five of the “Operation Drive Thru” trial, numerous witnesses described their drug habits and how it was facilitated with the cocaine they acquired from the three defendants.

The defendants currently standing trial are Michael Styers, 55, of Mercer; Charles Gearhart, 41, of Woodland; and Maharaji “Bean” Hemingway, ,36, of Philadelphia, who are accused of operating a massive cocaine ring in Clearfield County.

Styers is charged with 14 counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance; criminal conspiracy; criminal use of communication facility; two counts of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity; two counts of corrupt organizations;  persons not to possess, use manufacture control, sell or transfer firearms; burglary; theft by unlawful taking or disposition; criminal attempt; criminal trespass; and racketeering.

Gearhart is charged with 14 counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance; criminal conspiracy; criminal use of communication facility; dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity; two counts of corrupt organizations; and racketeering.

Hemingway is charged with six counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance; criminal conspiracy; criminal use of communication facility; dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity; two counts of corrupt organizations; racketeering; and false imprisonment.

The defendants’ charges resulted from an investigation into a drug trafficking organization operated by Styers, who allegedly traveled to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Wilkes Barre and obtained cocaine to resale to customers in Clearfield. Styers’ operation allegedly imported more than 20 kilograms of cocaine into Clearfield beginning in 2004 and also generated millions of dollars in profits.

The investigation was dubbed “Operation Drive Thru,” because it has been alleged that both Charles and Danielle Gearhart regularly sold cocaine to multiple customers through the rear window of their trailer in Hyde. Defendant Charles Gearhart was allegedly second in command to Styers, and their supplier was Hemingway, or “Bean,” of Philadelphia.

The Clearfield-based cocaine ring has been under investigation since 2004. However, that investigation intensified in April 2006 after the Lawrence Township Police Department discovered a large quantity of cocaine in a vehicle during a traffic stop on Mann Road.

Tammie Barney, a co-defendant in the case, knew Styers through another co-defendant, Michael C. Gearhart, who she dated from July 2006 to October 2006. Initially, she was getting the cocaine from him who had acquired it from Anthony Manchio, a co-defendant in the case and the Wilkes Barre source.

Barney testified that Michael C. Gearhart knew Styers, and she went with him twice to Styers’ residence to purchase cocaine. Styers and Michael C. Gearhart went into another room, and she used cocaine with them before her and Michael C. Gearhart left. She didn’t contribute to buying the couple of grams of cocaine and indicated it was purchased for $100 per gram.

Under cross-examination, Barney clarified that she and Michael C. Gearhart went to Styers in July/August 2006. After that, she said he went to Wilkes Barre to acquire cocaine from Manchio, and Styers wasn’t involved with Michael C. Gearhart’s Wilkes Barre connection.

In this case, she told the jury she’s been charged with possession with the intent to deliver and hasn’t discussed any potential “deals” for her cooperation. When speaking with agent Dave Jordan of the attorney general’s office the first time, she didn’t tell “the whole truth” because an incident that summer. She said that Manchio and his then girlfriend, Autumn Kifer was threatening her. She told the jury that she was “absolutely concerned.”

In 2005, Barney said that co-defendant Jacob Pittman went to Styers to pick up cocaine with her car. He subsequently traded her car for the cocaine. She later went to Styers’ residence and confronted him about the trade. After being told to “get out,” she went home for her keys and returned for her car.

Barney said at the time, she owned a 1995 Escort, and it had been parked directly in front of Styers’ residence. She never contacted the police about the incident, and nothing happened afterward between her and Styers.

Denny Daub testified that he’d been introduced to Charles Gearhart sometime around 2006. He said that at the time, he was using cocaine and other substances and began purchasing cocaine from Charles Gearhart. He purchased cocaine from Charles Gearhart more often than pills.

When buying cocaine from Charles Gearhart, Denny Daub went to his trailer or wherever they agreed to meet up. When he called to arrange the purchase, he said it was “real simple.” He wanted “something small for personal use” and estimated he purchased half-gram to a gram.

If he purchased half-gram amounts, he said it was $40, and he was sometimes getting it every other day. He said some weeks it was more, some weeks it was less. Denny Daub said he also got cocaine from other people, such as Barney and Michael S. Gearhart, the son of Michael C. Gearhart and possibly other people.

When purchasing from Charles Gearhart at his trailer, he told the jury he went inside a few times. Other times he said they met in streets or parking lots, and he estimated acquiring drugs from Charles Gearhart for six to eight months in 2006.

However, Denny Daub testified that he partied with Charles Gearhart at other places, such as Styers’ garage with Michael C. Gearhart and Michael S. Gearhart as well as his sister, Darla and maybe others.

According to him, he acquired cocaine from Styers five to 10 times. He said he purchased it in half-gram to gram amounts for personal usage from Styers. He said he didn’t have much direct contact with Styers and acquired cocaine more from Charles Gearhart, estimating at least 60 to 80 times.

Darla Daub told the jury she started using cocaine with co-defendant, Richard Smeal in 2005. She acquired cocaine from him and sometimes paid, but other instances she “partied for free.” She met Styers and Arianne Brocious when she and Smeal waited for them after a methadone treatment.

According to her, Styers and Brocious were being treated at the methadone clinic in Grampian. Smeal was out and “desperate” for some cocaine. After Styers and Brocious exited the clinic, she and Smeal followed them to a “pull-off spot,” where Smeal purchased a couple grams.

At some point, Darla Daub said she was introduced to Charles Gearhart, while they were all “sitting around partying and using cocaine.” She testified to purchasing cocaine from him for $60 to $80 per gram and usually acquired it when she received her Social Security Income checks.

But she said she often partied with Charles Gearhart, and he shared cocaine with her. She said he’d come to her parents’ house, where she lived, because they had to stay away from his trailer. She said Charles Gearhart’s wife, Danielle didn’t like her and suspected “something more was going on,” which Darla Daub said wasn’t true.

Darla Daub figured she purchased and or shared cocaine with Charles Gearhart around 100 times when she was acquiring it from him. She said he had the cocaine in baggies when she purchased it, and it was $80 for one gram.

One time while at Styers’ house, she observed a larger amount of cocaine that was a baseball- or fist-sized amount. She told the jury she watched Charles Gearhart and Styers package it, separating it into about 30 baggies, and at that point, it hadn’t all been packaged.

Darla Daub said she purchased pills from Styers, such as OxyContin, and he charged $50 or $60 per pill. She said Styers sold other pain medications, such as morphine sulfates, vicodin, Percocet, dilatta and fentanyl patches. “He (Styers) had a lot of different shapes, colors and sizes,” she said of the pill supply, which was kept in a 2-inch tall, white bottle.

Brandon Kifer met Styers while working for him in 2005 at which time cocaine came up. He told the jury Styers had approached him, and they “did a couple lines,” which led to him beginning to purchase cocaine in the fall of 2005. He typically used on the weekends, because he worked out of town.

He estimated that he purchased cocaine approximately 20 times from Styers. He said that he had acquired anywhere from one to three grams at a time at $100 per gram. If Styers wasn’t around, he relied on Charles Gearhart to supply him with cocaine. Most of the time, he purchased it from Styers, and said he hadn’t gone to Charles Gearhart’s trailer.

At one time, Brandon Kifer said he was working out of town in Lansdale, which is 30 to 45 minutes from Philadelphia. He said Charles and Michael Gearhart stopped by his hotel room, and his sister, Autumn Kifer was with Michael Gearhart. He said they were all using cocaine.

According to him, Charles Gearhart didn’t say where they got the cocaine and figured there was approximately an ounce. He said Michael Gearhart “cooked up” a portion of it, making it crack cocaine.

Brandon Kifer said he traveled to and from Clearfield on the weekends, and he never discussed with Styers where the cocaine was coming from. However, he said Brocious mentioned the name “Bean,” who was the source in Philadelphia. Later on, Brocious would set him up to acquire cocaine from “Bean.”

Brandon Kifer said that he and his sister, Autumn went down to Philadelphia one time in 2006. He told the jury he neither knew how much he was getting, nor what form – powder or rock – he was getting it in. He had a street address near the Philadelphia Zoo, where he was to meet “Bean.”

He testified that he was to acquire the cocaine, travel back to Clearfield for resale and bring the money back to “Bean.” He told the jury he did it because he was an addict, and for him, it was a “free high.” He didn’t owe “Bean” any money upfront, but his sister, Autumn Kifer had to stay to “show faith” he’d follow through.

According to him, his sister wanted to stay and was willing. He was approximately 5 minutes outside the city when he called “Bean” and wanted to return the ounce of cocaine. “I wanted to take it back. I felt wrong. I called ‘Bean,’ and he said I was ‘too far and to go get money and come back.’”

After returning to Clearfield, Brandon Kifer testified that he told his mom about the situation. She contacted Manchio, who was going to pick up his sister in Philadelphia. When asked what he did with the cocaine from “Bean,” Brandon Kifer said he used it all himself, as he was “in a state of depression.”

Brandon Kifer said he didn’t have any contact with “Bean” after that incident. He didn’t know if “Bean” ever attempted to get a hold of him about it. He told the jury he only met “Bean” that one time in 2006.

After the lunch break, defense attorney Lance Marshall, who is representing Hemingway, or “Bean,” told Clearfield County President Judge Fredric Ammerman that Brandon Kifer hadn’t mentioned “Bean” in his case paperwork, and his testimony was “a complete surprise” to him, and neither he nor Hemingway could have possibly prepared for that.

Additionally, Marshall told the judge that Hemingway advised him at the time of Brandon Kifer’s testimony that they had been cellmates at the Clearfield County Jail from January through March in 2009. Marshall sought more time to investigate the issue and said he wasn’t prepared to question Brandon Kifer.

Prosecutor Dave Gorman, senior deputy attorney general, said he didn’t have any idea that Brandon Kifer and Hemingway had been cellmates at CCJ. He was only aware of the one-time meeting in Philadelphia in 2006. Gorman believed it would be appropriate to delay the cross examination until Monday, which Ammerman permitted.

Joseph Hunter testified that he knew Styers in 2005 and 2006. He had back surgery in 2005 and was receiving pain prescriptions from Philipsburg doctor Larry Adams. He became addicted to them and basically “got whatever he wanted” from Adams at the time. He eventually started selling OxyContin to numerous others as long as it was being prescribed to him.

At one point, he started using cocaine and would trade OxyContin with Styers for cocaine. He traded two OxyContin tablets for a gram of cocaine, but he sometimes paid Styers in cash. He told the jury he’d acquire anywhere from one to five grams of cocaine, and if trading for five grams, he’d give Styers 10 pills.

According to Hunter, he was trading the pills he was being prescribed from Dr. Adams. He said his medical insurance was paying for the pills. Hunter said he’d “hook up” with Styers about every night, and his cocaine usage increased after being introduced to him.

Hunter said the max he’d ever acquired from Styers was 11 grams, which he sometimes used in a single day. He told the jury he observed larger amounts of cocaine, or three to four ounces, in Styers’ garage. He said it was separated into single baggies, but they were within a larger bag.

Hunter also said he observed Styers “cutting it up,” weighing it out and bagging it in gram amounts. At that point, he didn’t inquire about Styers’ source but later learned it was through “Bean” in Philadelphia. Styers also told him that he, Brocious and Charles Gearhart made “regular trips” to Philadelphia to pick up cocaine.

According to him, Styers had Charles Gearhart and Brocious selling for him. Styers had approached him about selling it as well. However, Hunter said he didn’t want the “extra hassle” with selling it but testified that he traveled to Philadelphia with Styers sometime around the end of 2005 or the beginning of 2006.

Hunter said it was his recollection that they were picking up 21 ounces of cocaine from “Bean” and bringing it back. He was going to get a gram of cocaine for providing the vehicle for the trip. He said they went to the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia and had to wait a while to meet “Bean.”

At some point, Styers called “Bean,” and he went with Styers and Brocious to the parking lot. He waited in the vehicle, while Styers and Brocious acquired the cocaine from “Bean” and placed it in a sneaker box in the back of the vehicle. He neither observed Styers with a large sum of money, nor an exchange of money with “Bean.”

He said Styers was supposed to be getting 21 ounces, or 2 pounds, of cocaine per week. He observed the cocaine from this trip when they returned to Clearfield, and it was taken into Styers’ garage. He wasn’t sure as to how much Styers paid “Bean” for the cocaine.

Hunter made another trip to Philadelphia with Rick Wilkinson and Charles Gearhart to acquire cocaine from “Bean.” He said he was invited to ride along, and they’d taken Wilkinson’s vehicle this time and went to a house somewhere in Philadelphia.

According to him, Charles Gearhart was “handling” $10,000, and they didn’t discuss how much they were getting. After arriving to the address, Hunter waited in the car, while Wilkinson and Charles Gearhart went in with money. They were gone approximately 30 minutes.

At that time, Hunter said they came out with a brown bag that was larger than a lunch bag. He didn’t see its contents, but they said it was cocaine. He didn’t know how much cocaine was inside the bag.

He said that oftentimes, Styers accepted trades, for vehicles, ATVs and tools, for cocaine. He traded his truck to Styers for $1,200 worth of cocaine around 2005.

After one trip to Philadelphia, he said that Styers brought back heroin. He observed it at Styers’ house, and it was in packets that were rubber-banded together. He believed there were 10 packets in each bundle, and said there were five bundles of them.

In addition to Styers, Hunter purchased cocaine from Charles Gearhart at his trailer. He said he’d go inside a bedroom; however, he told the jury not everyone went inside. He said Charles Gearhart sold cocaine through the rear window of his trailer, and he witnessed it a half-dozen to a dozen times.

“It was just in-and-out,” he said. After the Mann Road incident April 12, 2006, Hunter, who is Danielle Gearhart’s brother, picked her and Charles Gearhart up at the police station. Charles Gearhart told him he’d been busted with seven ounces of cocaine that came from “Bean.”

Renee Krumenacker testified that she knew Cindy and Brandon Kifer and met Autumn Kifer in high school. She met Styers after starting to use cocaine with Autumn and Brandon Kifer. She acquired the cocaine through them, which they obtained from Styers.

Initially, she told the jury she couldn’t go into Styers’ home. She drove them to pick up the cocaine so they often “hooked her up.” Sometimes, she gave them money for their daily average of three to four grams. She said they were paying $300 to $400 for those amounts of cocaine.

While waiting for them once at Styers’ home, she said Charles Gearhart noticed her in the car, “felt bad” and invited her into the garage. She was often there with Autumn Kifer daily or every other day to purchase cocaine. Krumenacker said she’d purchased from Styers but hadn’t from Charles Gearhart.

She said that Styers was traveling to Penfield for cocaine. Altogether she estimated she spent approximately $25,000 on cocaine, and she purchased it until she went to prison in 2006. She said she was stealing money to pay for the cocaine.

Lori Ann Swatsworth testified she was getting methadone treatments from 2004 to 2006. She was addicted to pain medication and heroin. She knew Styers during the said timeframe and purchased drugs from him.

She learned Styers was selling drugs from Brocious and had been hearing “through the grapevine” that Styers was “the place to go.” She was purchasing half-gram to a gram from Styers. She called beforehand and arranged the “hook up,” and she went to him directly at his home.

She said the cocaine was packaged in baggies, and she never observed him package it. She described her cocaine use as “sporadic” at times when she could “get money together.” Sometimes she stole money from her parents to purchase cocaine from Styers.

She went to Styers once or twice a week during her “sporadic” months of drug use, which amounted to about 20 times total. She was buying half-gram amounts for personal usage. She eventually stopped because Styers had disappeared for a while. She said she hadn’t purchased cocaine from Charles Gearhart.

Mike S. Gearhart, the son of co-defendant, Mike C. Gearhart was the last witness to testify, and it was a scary court experience for the younger Gearhart. He met Styers in 2005 shortly after finishing high school. He was using pain medication and cocaine at the time.

Michael S. Gearhart said he met Styers at his garage and never purchased from him. He said he used cocaine at the garage, but he’d brought it there with him. He said he didn’t know of his father buying cocaine from Styers.

Gorman asked Michael S. Gearhart if he recalled his grand jury testimony to which the witness replied he didn’t. He said it had been a while and he was under the influence at the time. He agreed that he’d met with Gorman and Jordan within the last few weeks about the case.

Michael S. Gearhart said when he testified before the grand jury, he was “scared.” Gorman presented him with a copy of the grand jury report for the case and asked him to review his testimony from 2008. At that point, Gorman read the questions asked during that testimony and had Michael S. Gearhart read his answers to them.

In his grand jury testimony, Michael S. Gearhart said his father went to Styers’ garage and used and purchased cocaine. He told the grand jury his father typically purchased half-grams but didn’t buy eight balls. The older Gearhart would pay $50 for half-gram and $100 for one gram.

A couple months into it in late 2005 or early 2006, Michael S. Gearhart said he started going to Styers’ garage alone. He estimated he went 30 to 40 times and possibly as many as 50 times. He purchased cocaine mainly over the weekends and like two to three times a week, if not as many as four times.

From the grand jury testimony, Michael S. Gearhart read that he’d hand Styers $50 or $100, and Styers would cut cocaine for him. Styers had scales and baggies at his home, and if you were buying to use there, purchases occurred in the home. But if you were buying and leaving, they typically occurred in the garage.

When asked by Gorman, Michael S. Gearhart said he was working in Lansdale. He indicated he knew Charles Gearhart, as he was his uncle. Again, he had the younger Gearhart reference his grand jury testimony in which he identified Styers as the source of the cocaine.

In the grand jury testimony, Michael S. Gearhart also said there had been discussion between Styers and his uncle about going to Philadelphia, and in those discussions, “Bean” was mentioned. He told the grand jury that his uncle and Jodi and Rick Wilkinson went down a couple times.

The younger Gearhart told the grand jury that they purchased half ounce to an ounce during that trip to Philadelphia. He observed a half-ounce that was at his uncle’s house. He said Charles Gearhart was selling the cocaine from his trailer, and he’d buy from as well as party with him.

According to the grand jury report, Michael S. Gearhart said he testified that people would purchase from a bedroom window of his uncle’s trailer. He estimated that he personally purchased cocaine from his uncle 20 to 30 times.

At one point, the younger Gearhart said he wasn’t sure if his grand jury testimony was true or not. Gorman reminded him that he was under oath at the time of his grand jury testimony, just like during his present testimony.

When asked, Michael S. Gearhart said he was “scared” and “didn’t want to be here” testifying in this case. Under cross-examination by his uncle’s defense attorney Gary Knaresboro, he admitted to believing that charges might be filed against him at the time of his Aug. 8, 2008 grand jury testimony.

He described his grand jury experience as questions being thrown at him, and he felt his words were getting twisted around. At one point, he spoke about a meeting with Gorman and Jordan, who told him they knew more about the case than he did, and they briefed him beforehand. Later, during his grand jury testimony, he believed he answered based upon the preceded briefing.

“I don’t think it’s factually correct,” Michael S. Gearhart said. Under re-direct, when asked by Gorman if his grand jury testimony under oath wasn’t true, he replied that it was “mostly untrue.”

At that time, Gorman asked if anyone, including Jordan, told him what to say in his grand jury testimony. Michael S. Gearhart said he wasn’t told what to say but believed it was based upon what he’d reviewed with Jordan and deputies.

Under re-cross by Knaresboro, Michael S. Gearhart said that Jordan and other deputies were telling him what happened and what this person and that person said.

“It was a bunch of people saying stuff. It sort of scared me,” he said, adding that he had basically regurgitated the information about the case that was presented to him in the briefing with Jordan and other deputies.

Testimony resumes Monday morning at 9 a.m. The case is scheduled through Tuesday but may run into Wednesday.

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