Police nab 30 in drug raid

An Altoona mother of three, arrested Friday morning on crack cocaine charges, began to sob when Magisterial District Judge Todd F. Kelly told her she would not be released from custody until she posted $20,000 cash bail.

"I can't go home?" asked Mandy Naugle, 32, of 905 16th Ave.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you go home," Kelly said.

Naugle is charged with two counts of delivery and two counts of possession of crack cocaine after police said she made two drug deals with them in August and September.

She was one of 30 suspected street- and mid-level drug dealers that were being sought by the Blair County Drug Task Force and the state Attorney General's Office. Fifteen people were taken into custody by noon.

The arrests of the suspects brought to an end an eight-month investigation and netted "a significant set of defendants," Blair County District Attorney Richard A. Consiglio said.

None were labeled as a major supplier, but three, Rashaan Carter, 18, with both Philadelphia and Altoona addresses, Suzanne Miller, identified as being from New Jersey, and Guillemo M. Gaffney Sr., 33, of 1318 Third St., were considered mid-level dealers, authorities said.

Carter was involved in a crack cocaine sale in late 2008, arrest papers state. He's charged with one count each of delivery, conspiracy and possession.

Miller told a confidential informant on Nov. 18, that "her boys from Baltimore" were at her house, and when the informant arrived at her home, Miller went upstairs to meet with her supplier and to obtain the crack cocaine for the informant, police said.

She ended up being charged with one count each of delivery, possession and conspiracy.

When a police informant went to Gaffney's residence, the suspected dealer agreed to front him 1 "8-balls" of cocaine with the instruction that the informant was to eventually pay him $300 for the drugs, court documents state. Gaffney is charged with delivery and possession of cocaine and criminal use of a communications facility.

During the lengthy investigation, one of the largest drug hauls came June 11 from a home on the 1500 block of Monroe Avenue, police said.

Karrie Finnegan, 19, was in that home when police took another person into custody and served a search warrant, court documents state. Police said they confiscated 1,000 bags of heroin, 20 grams of cocaine and $4,092.

Finnegan faces charges of possession with intent to deliver, conspiracy, receiving stolen property for a stolen firearm, possession of controlled substances and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was still wanted late Friday.

Randy Feathers, regional director of the Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, said Officers executed a search warrant Friday at 820 Sixth Ave., the residence of Christine Seibel, who faces two counts of conspiracy, delivery, criminal use and possession of heroin. It wasn't immediately known if anything was seized.

Police did seize two grams of cocaine at the home of Ronald Baronner, 4020 Fourth Ave., after a consent search. Baronner was arrested for one count each of delivery and possession of cocaine and criminal use of a communications facility.

The Push Out the Pusher hot line was instrumental in the investigation, Feathers said, adding that the raid was financed with funds from Operation Our Town.

There is a residual effect of increased crime in the communities outside of Altoona because of the drug dealing in the city, said Roaring Spring Police Chief Milton Fields Jr.

Feathers said he believes the crime rate has slowed and violence is down as a result of the cooperative anti-drug effort.

Sixty officers and agents took part in Friday's sweep, including, for the first time, corrections officers from Blair County Prison, who helped transport suspects to the prison.

Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.