Leader in heroin ring loses appeal of guilty pleas

Drugs purchased in New York City brought to Altoona

Lawrence Francis, one of the leaders of a heroin ring that operated in Blair County nearly six years ago, has lost an appeal in which he argued his guilty pleas to multiple drug-related offenses were not voluntary.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court on Monday rejected the appeal by Francis, 45, a native of York, who was eventually sentenced to 11 to 22 years in state prison by Blair County Judge Wade Kagarise.

He is incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution at Pine Grove in Indiana County.

According to the Superior Court opinion written by Judge John T. Bender, Francis was alleged to be one of the leaders of a drug organization that distributed large amounts of heroin purchased in New York City.

The heroin found its way onto the streets of York and Altoona.

In 2017, after an investigation by the West Drug Task Force, police arrested 15 suspects from York and Blair counties.

Then Attorney General Josh Shapiro reported that the ring had from 2015 into 2017 distributed more than 15,000 bricks of heroin (about 750,000 bags) and had taken in more than $5 million.

On November 14, 2018, Francis entered guilty pleas to two counts of possession with intent to distribute, conspiracy to participate in a corrupt organization, and the illegal possession of a firearm.

In August 2019, Francis filed a post-conviction petition, and through court-appointed attorney Paul Puskar of Hollidaysburg stated he would not have entered his guilty pleas had he been aware of an alleged conflict in the actual testimony by a key witness in the case, Katrina Leonard of York, and the report of her testimony as published in the grand jury presentment that led to the charges against him.

The presentment, according to the defense, reported that Leonard had testified she transported 200 to 300 grams of heroin on each of her trips to New York City, bringing the drugs to the organization in Pennsylvania.

But in reviewing her actual testimony before the statewide grand jury, which was not available to the Francis defense prior to entry of his pleas, she stated that she did not see any heroin among the drugs she transported, only bags of marijuana.

Based on this alleged conflict, Francis stated he would not have entered guilty pleas to the charges.

By the time the petition came up for hearing last year, Francis was represented by another attorney, Timothy S. Burns of Ebensburg.

During the hearing the deputy Attorney General who prosecuted the Francis case, Dave Gorman, clarified that the grand jury testimony revealed Leonard from the beginning of 2015 to June 2016, went by herself to New York City to transport 200 to 300 grams of drugs on each trip.

But, Gorman explained, it was the testimony from another person in the organization, not Leonard, who informed investigators the drug being transported was heroin.

The Superior Court opinion stated, "Based on this record, it is apparent that there was no actual conflict between Ms. Leonard's grand jury testimony and the grand jury presentment."

The information about heroin being transported came from other witnesses rather than Leonard herself, and that was clearly stated in the presentment prior to the guilty pleas entered by Francis, according to the Superior Court.

Therefore, Francis's claim that his plea was involuntary is "meritless," the opinion stated.

The Superior Court also dismissed the defendant's argument that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to discover the alleged conflict between Leonard's testimony and the grand jury presentment.

State court records show that Leonard in October 2019 entered no contest pleas to participating in a corrupt organization. She was sentenced to six to 13 months in prison followed by five years' probation.