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Convicted drug dealer wants sentence tossed, new trial

A Philadelphia man, convicted in Blair County for his part in a statewide drug ring that distributed thousands of opioid pills obtained through forged prescriptions, is asking the U.S. District Court in Johnstown to vacate his lengthy prison sentence and order a new trial.

The defendant, Rondale Malik Geter, 30, is being housed in the State Correctional Institution at Albion where he is serving a sentence of 14 to 28 years imposed by Blair County Judge Wade A. Kagarise.

Geter was tried in Blair County along with the alleged leader of the drug ring, Kevin Andrews of Philadelphia, and was convicted of nine offenses.

The jury found Geter was part of a ring that prepared false prescriptions for oxycodone and then used “runners” who were driven to pharmacies throughout Pennsylvania to have the bogus prescriptions filled.

Andrews, according to the testimony during 2015 trial, then would sell the pills.

Geter, for at least three months toward the end of 2014, was a constant companion of Andrews, the trial testimony showed.

During that time, Andrews told another member of the group that Geter was one of the drivers of the organization who took individuals to the pharmacies to have the prescriptions filled, according to the testimony.

While the organization operated in at least 44 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sent the case to Blair County for trial. Many of the prescriptions were filled in Blair.

Geter maintains that he was a small part of the organization and argues he was prejudiced by being tried with Andrews.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld his multiple convictions, pointing out, “It was necessary for the jury to hear not just evidence related to (Geter’s) actions in furtherance of the conspiracy, but Andrews’ actions as well.”

Geter was found not guilty of many of the charges, leading the Superior Court to conclude, “The jury’s lesser verdict for (Geter) indicated that the jury understood and contemplated the separate levels of involvement” of Geter and Andrews.

A three-judge Superior Court panel in December upheld Geter’s convictions and sentence.

Geter, now acting as his own lawyer, has taken his arguments to the federal court and in a petition filed last week, focuses on the questions surrounding the use of the hearsay evidence and the alleged lack of evidence in support of six of the nine charges for which he was convicted.

The hearsay evidence involved a statement by Andrews to a commonwealth witness who was a runner for the organization. He told the witness that Geter was one of his drivers.

The Superior Court ruled that the testimony by the witness implicated Geter and Andrews in a conspiracy and that the witness saw the two together every day.

The statement that was permitted by the judge “was not idle chatter, but was made at a time Andrews was training (the witness) to be a driver, and instructing (him) on the structure of, and interaction between, the members of the conspiracy,” according to the Superior Court.

As to the sufficiency of the evidence, the state appeals court ruled that once the jury found Geter was involved in a conspiracy with Andrews, he became responsible for acts of his co-conspirator.

Geter was convicted of: two counts of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation; possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver; participation in a corrupt organization; conspiracy; dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity; identity theft; forgery and criminal use of a communication facility.

In sentencing Geter, the judge cited prior criminal convictions, including robbery, and stated he ap­peared to lack remorse.

The crimes committed by Geter, Kagarise stated, “contributed to an already pronounced epidemic of narcotic addiction and abuse.”

Kagarise sentenced An­drews, 40, to a term of 33 to 66 years behind bars.

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