CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield man accused of being a major drug dealer in the area removed his ankle bracelet and disappeared last week.
Daniel Robert Peteuil, 44, is scheduled to go to trial in two drug cases on Monday.
During a hearing Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Dave Gorman asked President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to go ahead with the trial.
A probation officer, Tim Ryen, testified that last week Peteuil, who was on supervised bail since August, had permission to go to Pittsburgh for an appointment at a hospital.
While in Pittsburgh, the GPS on his ankle bracelet showed that he was at the hospital before he went to a residence and then to a bus stop where the unit stayed until the early-morning hours of the next day when it pinged as being at a recycling center. Eventually it went dead.
Ryen stated that it appears Peteuil removed the device and placed it into a trash can where it was later picked up by a garbage company.
When Ryen contacted Peteuil’s father, he said he had no idea what had happened to him but said he would let authorities know if his son contacted him.
A check on the appointment at the hospital revealed that it was intended to be a teleconference and not an in-person appointment. “He lied to me,” Ryen stated.
Gorman noted that Peteuil was on hand for the jury selection process in October and aware of the trial dates. He made a motion to hold the trial in absentia.
Peteuil’s attorney, Brian Jones, had no objection to this.
Ammerman granted the motion to hold the trial regardless of whether Peteuil attends or not, and to revoke his bail.
If anyone knows the whereabouts of Peteuil, they should contact the Clearfield County Sheriff’s Department.
Peteuil is charged with three counts of possession of firearm prohibited, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, and five counts of manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, all felonies, plus five misdemeanor counts of intentional possession of a controlled substance, one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, one misdemeanor count of sell controlled substance without known trademark and two summaries, in one case and two counts of manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, three counts of conspiracy, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and criminal use of communication facilities, all felonies.
The charges in the first case stem from an incident on June 6, 2019 in DuBois when Peteuil was pulled over by police for having tinted windows.
After it was determined he was on state parole and not allowed to be in DuBois, authorities were contacted and when a parole officer arrived, she searched the vehicle where she found a large amount of cash in the center console along with a loaded pistol. Peteuil is not permitted to possess a firearm because he is a convicted felon.
He was taken into custody.
Investigators later found over $45,000 in cash, two more pistols, ammunition and various drugs including 238.41 grams of cocaine, 349 grams of heroin, 58.32 grams of methamphetamine and over a pound of marijuana in the vehicle, according to the report.
The second case was filed after grand jury testimony in June of 2020 regarding drug activity including heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana, methamphetamine, Fentanyl, cocaine, Suboxone and psychedelic mushrooms “under the leadership of Daniel Peteuil.”
According to the grand jury, in addition to all the items discovered in the traffic stop in June of 2019, investigators found a receipt reflecting a payment of $1,500 to a local attorney for providing services to an associate of Peteuil, Jonathan Morales, who had been arrested after a traffic stop on May 16, 2019.
Police seized 56.57 grams of methamphetamine, 665 stamp bags of heroin, marijuana and other drugs from Morales. They also uncovered over $9,000 in cash.
Morales told police the drugs had been placed in his vehicle by Peteuil.
Confidential informants testified before the grand jury that they bought quantities of drugs from Peteuil.
One of these informants stated that they believed “Peteuil was the main drug dealer of drugs in the Clearfield County area.”
The trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Monday morning and last three days.
