CLEARFIELD – A DuBois woman pleaded guilty Tuesday for her part in a drug operation.
Danielle Yontosh, 43, pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children during plea and sentencing court.
She was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to 11.5 months to two years less one day in jail and nine years probation. She was fined $500 plus costs.
These charges stem from an incident on Sept. 29 at a motel on the Clearfield-Shawville Highway in Lawrence Township when officers found Matthew Thomas Marley in Yontosh’s room with methamphetamine, traces of drugs, pills, drug paraphernalia and more than $11,000 in cash. Yontosh’s child was also in the room.
Prior to sentencing, it was noted that Yontosh cooperated with the investigation and Ammerman commented that without that cooperation, Marley may not have signed a plea agreement in his cases.
He also agreed with Senior Deputy Attorney General David Gorman that it was a good idea to give Yontosh a “long tail” of probation. If she has any violations during her nine years of probation, she will be sent to state prison. She is not permitted to have primary custody of her child without a court order.
During the preliminary hearing, a police officer testified that officers were at the motel to serve a warrant on another individual who was known to reside there. They checked room 227, which was registered to Yontosh.
The officer explained at first there was no response to her knocking, but after a third series of knocks she heard a toilet flush. She admitted she thought this was because drugs were being flushed away.
She knocked again asking for Yontosh and telling her she needed to open the door. Instead a man, later identified as Marley opened the door widely. Marley was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. A small, naked, female child was sitting up in the bed.
This caused the officers some concern initially, but there were three other people in the room. Marely was later identified as the girl’s father, according to court documents.
When an officer went into the bathroom she could see water on the floor from the toilet. She also saw a Bath & Body Works bag that contained needles and other drug paraphernalia.
Because of the possible drug activity and in consideration for the officers’ safety, everyone in the room was identified and searched. Marley had a cigarette package on him that contained methamphetamine.
The room was secured and a search warrant was requested. In addition, Children, Youth and Family Services was contacted regarding the child, she testified.
The adults were taken to the Lawrence Township police station and questioned.
When the room was searched, officers found $11,870 found in a grocery bag in a clothes basket, $238 in a jacket, multiple cell phones, a container with various pills in it, a metal container with different pills, pieces of pills, marijuana, a packet of suspected heroin, and various drug paraphernalia.
When she questioned Marley at the police station, he said he was from Arizona and had connections with a drug cartel. He met Yontosh in Arizona and they moved back to this, her home state. She knew people in this area who were in the drug business and could introduce him, he said.
Marley, an inmate of state prison, pleaded guilty to manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, criminal conspiracy, corruption of minors, and endangering the welfare of children in a case that was scheduled to go to a trial on July 25.
Ammerman sentenced Marley to two to five years in state prison for that case. In two additional cases, Marely pleaded guilty to manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. For these he was given consecutive sentences of one to five years in prison and two to five years in prison. His total sentence for the three cases is five to 15 years.
