The Pennsylvania Superior Court has dismissed a post-conviction petition filed by a Johnstown man who was sentenced to a minimum of nine years in a state prison for his part in a large-scale heroin distribution ring in area counties, including Blair, in 2015 and 2016.

Ryan D. Baumgardner, 46, was convicted on two counts of possession with intent to deliver, conspiracy, being an employee of a corrupt organization and the criminal use of a communication facility.

The jury found him not guilty of dealing in unlawful proceeds.

In his appeal, Baumgardner contended he did not receive a fair trial because his attorney, Jerome K. Kaharick of Johnstown, represented both him and co-defendant Krista Mader of Venango County.

The dual representation was a conflict of interest, Baumgardner claimed in a petition filed by his appeals attorney, Joseph Lee Addink of Hollidaysburg.

The defense argued that it allowed the jury to hear evidence involving Mader, thus creating the possibility of guilt by association.

It also prevented Kaharick from claiming that Baumgardner’s purchase of heroin from the leader of the organization was for his personal use and that he was not a distributor.

The petition also claimed that Mader identified Baumgardner in her testimony before a statewide grand jury, which prejudiced his defense.

Baumgardner claimed he was not part of the organization headed by Curtis Harper of Pittsburgh, but that he had a severe heroin addiction.

The Superior Court Panel that included Judges Alice B. Dubow, Mary P. Murray and Dan Pelligrini pointed out that Baumgardner waived any objection to the dual representation when questioned by Cambria County Judge Tamara R. Bernstein prior to his July 2017 trial.

Bernstein in her opinion concluded that “none of the issues noted by (Baumgardner) adequately demonstrate that Attorney Kaharick’s representation was adversely affected by his simultaneous representation of Mader.”

The judge claimed Baumgardner’s concerns about the dual representation amounted to “speculation as to the mindset of the jury and other potential strategies Attorney Kaharick could have used at trial.”

“This does not meet the standard outlined by the Supreme Court,” she ruled.

The Superior Court panel stated, “We agree with and adopt (Bernstein’s) rationale.”

The appeals court panel then went on to explain that the trial record does not support the defense claim of “jury confusion.”

“The jury demonstrated its ability to distinguish defendants, the charges and evidence when it acquitted (Baumgardner) of distribution of proceeds,” according to the Superior Court ruling.

Baumgarnder raised nine separate issues during his appeal, most of them related to the lack of evidence that showed he was part of the Harper organization.

The panel dismissed all of his complaints.

The trial stemmed from an investigation led by the FBI, the Cambria County Drug Task Force and the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation that led to the arrest of 33 dealers.

Baumgardner was tried along with Mader and Massi Dickey.

Baumgardner was sentenced to nine to 18 years behind bars. He is incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution at Fayette.

Mader was eventually sentenced to a state prison term of 18 to 40 years and Dickey, 12.5 to 25 years.

Harper, 47, is serving a prison term of 22 to 44 years in SCI Coal Township.

It was alleged the heroin ring operated in Cambria, Blair, Huntingdon, Somerset, Indiana, Erie and Allegheny Counties.