CLEARFIELD – Numerous customers of the three defendants, 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, testified Thursday during day four of the “Operation Drive Thru” trial.
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, it 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.
Rick Wilkinson, a co-defendant in the case that’s not on trial, testified first and told the jury he began using cocaine with his wife, Jodi Wilkinson and her daughter, Arianne Brocious in February/March of 2005. He met Styers the first time he went to his residence with his wife and purchased a couple grams of cocaine.
Initially, he only purchased cocaine from Styers once every couple of weeks but then it increased. He said he and or Jodi Wilkinson either went to Styers’ residence, or he traveled to them. Starting out he purchased a gram of cocaine per day but had purchases escalate to five or six times daily.
Wilkinson told the jury he started out paying $100 per gram of cocaine. But Styers ended up selling it to him for $80 per gram because Styers would sell it cheaper if you were purchasing more. Wilkinson testified to using approximately half of the $333,000 left to him in his father’s will to purchase cocaine.
Wilkinson said he started purchasing cocaine in the spring of 2005 but stopped sometime after the Mann Road incident in April 2006, or approximately one year later. He admitted to purchasing cocaine from other sources but estimated that 75 percent of his cocaine came from Styers.
According to him, he used both his income and inheritance to purchase cocaine. He estimated spending $400 to $500 from his weekly income and arranged transactions with Styers, which occurred in Styers’ kitchen, living room and garage areas, when he lived in Clearfield.
Wilkinson said when at Styers’ residence, he recognized numerous other people there, including Cindy, Brandon and Autumn Kifer as well as Charles Gearhart. He described Charles Gearhart as the “delivery man,” and said he went to him any time Styers wasn’t around.
He told the jury he’d acquired cocaine from the rear window of Charles Gearhart’s trailer. However, most times he was invited inside the home and went into a bedroom to acquire the cocaine. He said Charles and Danielle Gearhart’s children were there and either in the living room or outside.
But when acquiring cocaine from the trailer’s window, he said customers called in advance and pulled up. He said they were expecting you and waiting there for you. He estimated that he purchased 80 percent of his cocaine from Styers and only 20 percent of it from Charles Gearhart.
When asked by prosecutor Dave Gorman, senior deputy attorney general, Wilkinson confirmed he purchased cocaine five or six times daily but admitted it could have been more on occasions. “When you’re high all the time, you lose track of things,” he said.
He said when traveling to Pittsburgh in early 2006, he often purchased more than a gram or two at once. He had purchased cocaine approximately seven times from Richard Smeal, who had connections in Pittsburgh, referencing “Dre” and “Billy Bob.”
Under cross-examination, he explained that he provided Smeal with money to purchase cocaine for him in the Pittsburgh area. He said he didn’t know any of the dealers there, and Smeal had agreed to buy it for them both.
Wilkinson said he had an ounce for personal use purchased while in Pittsburgh and shared it when partying with Jodi Wilkinson and Charles Gearhart. He said he mostly purchased gram amounts from Styers and Charles Gearhart.
In summer 2005, he traveled to the Philadelphia area with Jodi Wilkinson and Brandon Kifer. They went to see Hemingway, or “Bean,” for cocaine, and they met him at the Turkey Hill Convenience Store. Brandon Kifer, according to Wilkinson, had the connection with “Bean.”
Wilkinson estimated approximately a half-ounce of cocaine was purchased from “Bean” and wasn’t sure what Brandon Kifer paid for it. He didn’t supply any money for the purchase but testified he later purchased two grams at $100 per gram from Brandon Kifer.
In 2005, Wilkinson testified that Styers made trips to Philadelphia for cocaine. He was aware of these trips because Styers used his vehicle, and in return, he was paid with a gram of cocaine. However, he’d purchase additional cocaine from Styers throughout the week.
He told the jury he made multiple trips to Styers’ house daily, because Styers didn’t like to sell cocaine in larger amounts. He testified that four ounces was the most cocaine he’d ever seen in Styers’ garage, and it was up above the ceiling in a potato chip can.
Wilkinson said he never supplied cocaine to other people for money but said Styers had referenced “Bean” as his source. In summer 2005, he said “Bean” stopped by his residence with three other African-American males, and he was looking for Charles Gearhart so that he could distribute cocaine.
Wilkinson said that “Bean” had contacted him in the later end of 2006 about selling cocaine for him. He said this was after the Mann Road incident, and he advised “Bean” that he hadn’t ever sold cocaine and didn’t have any plans on starting to.
On April, 12, 2006, Wilkinson said he and his wife and Charles and Danielle Gearhart had hotel reservations in DuBois. He said Charles Gearhart had a more than a couple grams of cocaine, and they used it at the hotel. Wilkinson had been using all day from the cocaine he’d gotten from Charles Gearhart.
Under cross-examination, Wilkinson said he and his wife had used cocaine together at home April 12, 2006. Afterward, they went to Bilger’s Rocks and partied with Charles and Danielle Gearhart before using it again at the DuBois hotel. He couldn’t recollect Danielle Gearhart ever using cocaine with them.
At some point, they decided to leave the hotel to return to Charles and Danielle Gearhart’s trailer. Charles Gearhart had forgotten cocaine and was afraid someone would enter the home and take it, according to Wilkinson’s testimony.
En route the Gearhart trailer, Wilkinson and his wife, Jodi were arguing. He also argued with Charles Gearhart at which time he asked to get out somewhere on Mann Road. Jodi Wilkinson remained inside the vehicle and continued to the trailer with Charles and Danielle Gearhart.
Wilkinson estimated they were gone approximately 20 to 30 minutes, and he’d walked up to a couple residences. He said one gentleman allowed him to use his telephone to contact Styers’ wife, Sheila, who he asked for transportation. She didn’t have a vehicle because Styers wasn’t around.
He said the same time he left the residence, the Lawrence Township police had pulled over Charles Gearhart. Police mentioned someone had been attempting to enter homes to which Wilkinson told them it was probably him.
Wilkinson said he was concerned about his wife, Jodi but wasn’t allowed to have contact with her. Instead, he was detained by police and watched them search the vehicle and sit a “bunch of cocaine” on the trunk. He was placed in jail for three to four months for trespass charges, because he couldn’t initially make bail.
According to him, Charles Gearhart’s cocaine was supplied by “Bean” in Philadelphia because Charles Gearhart told him. Wilkinson said he continued using cocaine after the Mann Road incident but traveled to Pittsburgh for it.
In 2005, Wilkinson testified that he smoked, snorted and injected cocaine and purchased in in two forms – loose powder and hard. He said he purchased it more in its “rock” form than powder because he enjoyed smoking it that way.
Bridget Martin said her and a former boyfriend had used cocaine together. However, she wasn’t sure from whom he was acquiring the cocaine. He told her the less she knew, the better off she was and declined to provide any other details.
In 2005 or 2006, she estimated that she started traveling to New Kensington and purchasing cocaine from mainly street level dealers. Under cross-examination, she told the jury she went there about every day, and she and Smeal would “pool money” to purchase cocaine.
She wasn’t certain as to who Smeal’s contact was there, explaining the dealers go by nicknames, such as “G” and “Spider.” She said they bought different amounts, depending on how much money they had. She was using a stolen credit card and asking her mother for $100 per day.
“I was good at excuses (for the money),” Martin said.
At one point, she was acquiring cocaine from Styers and started hanging out at his garage. While at Styers’ garage, she saw others there, including Charles Gearhart, Smeal and Brocious. She said different people supplied the cocaine when they were hanging out there.
She testified to buying half-gram and gram amounts from Styers. She paid $40 for the half-gram purchases and $80 for a gram. Any time she couldn’t reach Styers, she purchased cocaine from Charles Gearhart in the same amounts for the same price.
A co-defendant in the case, Jacob Pittman said he started using cocaine on the weekends when he partied with Kristin Wilsoncroft and Tara Swatsworth in 2005. He said Hemingway (“Bean”) provided the cocaine and the usual amount was three grams for $200.
He said that sometimes, Hemingway would stay in Clearfield on the weekends. However, he didn’t really see anyone purchasing cocaine from him or giving him money.
When Wilsoncroft moved in with Styers, Pittman said he started hanging out there and purchased three grams of cocaine for $200 from Styers. He said there was “always a little party going on” at Styers’ garage and frequently saw many of the previous witnesses who testified there.
Pittman testified that he also purchased cocaine from Charles Gearhart, or “whoever was watching over” the Styers operation. He said it was a “pain” to get it from Charles Gearhart because it was more “out of the way” for him to travel there, but he did travel to his trailer.
Once when briefly out of jail in March 2006, he told the jury he stayed with Swatsworth. He got back into using cocaine and bought it once from Hemingway directly. When he was staying with Swatsworth, he said Hemingway came with a few ounces of cocaine in zip-lock baggies inside a shoebox.
He said Hemingway wanted them to disperse it, and he delivered it to whoever was partying. He said Hemingway gave him what he needed so that he wasn’t carrying more cocaine than necessary. He averaged selling a couple ounces over a few days but said it could have been slower at times.
Cindy Kifer, the mother of Brandon and Autumn Kifer, testified that she first met Styers in 2004 or 2005. She and Styers both suffered from chronic pain and discussed the difficulties of getting the necessary medication. Both shared the same Philipsburg-based doctor, Larry Adams.
She told the jury she was addicted to pain medications because she’d been taking them for 20 years. At that time, she was taking OxyContin when her insurance stopped covering it. She told Styers, who agreed to pay for it if he received half the pills.
Starting around 2006, he traveled with her to acquire the OxyContin. She was prescribed two 80-milligram tablets and two 40-milligram tablets, and each prescription contained 60 tablets. She said she was giving Styers half of the 80-milligram tablets and believed he was helping her.
Cindy Kifer said she then arranged to “trade” Styers OxyContin for cocaine. She would give him so many tablets for a gram of cocaine on more than one occasion but less than five occasions at Styers’ house or garage. Eventually, her doctor began prescribing her fentanyl patches, and Styers knew and didn’t have any reaction.
Cindy Kifer’s daughter, Autumn knew Styers and was aware of the trades going on between her mother and him. Like her mother, she’d met Styers through her brother, Brandon, and six months or so later, she learned about her mother exchanging OxyContin for cocaine with Styers.
Autumn Kifer said she and Brandon were both cocaine users, and they would get it from Styers’ residence. She said initially, her brother accompanied her to purchase the cocaine, and they would buy a gram to split. She gave him half the money and it was $100 for a gram.
She eventually started purchasing the cocaine from Styers on her own. She would call ahead so that it’d be pre-packaged, and she purchased cocaine from him three to five times per week for approximately a year. She also purchased cocaine from Charles Gearhart’s trailer once or twice when she couldn’t get in touch with Styers.
One time, Autumn Kifer said she had a drug debt of $600 to Styers. She used a credit card to take him shopping for clothing and jewelry and also removed $8,000 to $9,000 from the cash register at the Lithuanian Club, a bar she worked at in Osceola Mills at the time.
She estimated to spending 75 percent of the stolen money on cocaine but said she also spent it on gas and cigarettes. She was fired from the bar and wasn’t ever prosecuted for the incident. She apologized to her employer and said she’d pay them back, which never happened.
Autumn Kifer once traveled to Philadelphia with Mike Gearhart and her brother, Brandon sometime in 2005 or 2006. They were staying at a motel and Charles Gearhart showed up with cocaine, and she, Mike Gearhart and her brother used it.
In addition, she traveled with her brother, Brandon to meet “Bean” once in Philadelphia in summer 2006. She said her brother didn’t get what he was going to get, and she stayed behind in Philadelphia as “collateral.” She said “Bean” had given her brother cocaine to get rid of, and he was to return in 12 hours with the money and to pick her up.
Autumn Kifer, however, ended up staying for a few days and never knew quite where she was. She was “treated really nice,” and was given cocaine, and “Bean” told her that Anthony Manchio, a co-defendant in the case and the Wilkes Barre connection, was going to pick her up.
She testified that she stayed with Manchio off-and-on for a two-year period. On this occasion, she and Manchio traveled to his residence after leaving Philadelphia, and she stayed there for a couple of months.
In spring of 2006, Aszure Luzier said she met Charles Gearhart at his trailer in Hyde, where she purchased a gram of cocaine for $90. Sometimes, she purchased cocaine from Danielle Gearhart or whoever was there. She typically called ahead to arrange to acquire it but said they called her sometimes when they had it available.
Luzier said she never entered the residence and acquired the cocaine through a rear window of the trailer. She said they knew when she was coming, and she just had to knock on the window. She said they didn’t discuss the details related to how much for what price by phone, and it was all handled when she arrived.
She estimated dealing with Charles Gearhart 70 percent of the time. She traveled to the trailer 20 to 30 times during a two- or three-month period that spring and summer of 2006. She usually purchased a gram for personal use but occasionally shared it with someone.
Luzier said she stopped going to the Gearhart trailer when Danielle Gearhart told her she could get cocaine for her and collected $200. However, Danielle Gearhart didn’t acquire the cocaine for her and ignored her phone calls. She said she went out to the trailer and no one was there.
“It was like I had been abandoned, and I never got my money back,” she said. Under cross-examination, Luzier said she believed Danielle Gearhart was getting her an “eight ball,” or about three grams of cocaine. She also said she had other suppliers, including Smeal and twice sent wire transfers for more than $1,000 on his behalf.
Unrelated to both Mike and Charles Gearhart, Amanda Gearhart told the jury she “knew of” Styers and “knew him to see him.” She used cocaine once or twice per week with her friend, Bobbi Sue for six to eight months until they had a falling out sometime in 2007.
Amanda Gearhart said her friend acquired cocaine from Styers, and she oftentimes dropped her off up the street from Styers’ residence. She said Bobbi Sue purchased a gram or more, and they smoked, snorted or injected the cocaine.
Amanda Gearhart testified that she and Bobbi Sue shared the cost for the cocaine and purchased it at $100 per gram. She got money from her parents to purchase it. They mostly used it at her friend’s apartment in Edgewood, and she estimated that this occurred approximately 40 times.
Manchio, who is incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Houtzdale, refused to testify when asked if he’d cooperate by Clearfield County President Judge Fredric Ammerman before the lunch break after the jury left the courtroom.
Ammerman explained to Manchio that he currently didn’t have any charges pending against him in the case. He told Manchio that he could no longer be exposed and didn’t have his Fifth Amendment right.
“You, legally, cannot refuse to testify. The court can find you in contempt,” he said. Ammerman said if Manchio refused to testify, he planned to find him in contempt and sentence him to one year consecutive to his current 5- to 10-year sentence.
Manchio still refused to testify. Ammerman told Manchio he had until the commonwealth rested to change his mind but still proceeded with finding him in contempt with the aforementioned punishment, which could be struck if he’d change his mind.
Ammerman ordered the deputies to instruct SCI-Houtzdale officials to contact the court immediately if Manchio would change his mind. Manchio said he was in the restricted housing unit but noted he was sure he’d have someone to contact within if he’d change his mind.
The trial resumes today and is scheduled through Tuesday.
