Accused fentanyl peddler pleads guilty, sentenced

DA: 4,766 packets of potential lethal doses kept off streets

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A Tyrone man who was arrested in November with what was initially believed to be heroin, but turned out to be fentanyl or predominately fentanyl, faces up to 15 years in prison.

Andrew J. Golden, 38, who was supposed to go on trial this week in Blair County court, was sentenced Tuesday to 7.5 to 15 years' incarceration after he entered guilty pleas to felony charges of possession with intent to deliver and carrying a firearm without a license.

Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks, who was slated to prosecute Golden, said the testing of the substances seized in the trunk of Golden's vehicle showed almost no heroin.

Instead, Weeks said the packets contained fentanyl or predominately fentanyl, with 10 to 20 doses in each of the 4,766 packets.

That confiscation kept thousands of potentially lethal doses of fentanyl from being distributed, Weeks said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deems fentanyl to be 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It's regularly identified as a drug contributing to deadly overdoses.

Golden and David Gubish, 33, were arrested on Nov. 23, 2022, after Tyrone police initiated an investigation that started after seeing a parked vehicle on the 1000 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. Court documents indicate that police believed the vehicle was being driven by someone wanted on a warrant, so they contacted the state Office of Attorney General to set up help with surveillance of the vehicle.

Weeks said trial proceedings would have included testimony from the agent who saw Golden putting items into the vehicle's trunk and observed Golden driving the vehicle.

Criminal charges indicate that police stopped the vehicle on Birmingham Pike where Golden was driving even though his license was suspended.

After warrants were secured, officers searched the vehicle and inside the trunk, they found the packets of fentanyl, 3.5 grams of crystal methamphetamine, a Highpoint .45 caliber handgun and a full-loaded magazine in a backpack.

Gubish, a passenger in the vehicle, was found with 13 packets of fentanyl in his pants pocket. His criminal charges, including possession with intent to deliver, possession of a controlled substance and carrying a firearm without a license, are slated for review in court on July 6. He remains incarcerated in the county prison on $200,000 cash bail.

Golden, whose bail was also set at $200,000 cash, has also remained in the county prison since his arrest and was returned there after Tuesday's court proceeding.

Weeks said Golden had no prior drug-trafficking convictions but he had prior felony convictions that factored into the negotiated sentence. Online records show Golden with felony convictions for theft, burglary and forgery and additional misdemeanor convictions for simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

Judge Wade A. Kagarise, who was slated to preside over the trial, accepted the plea and imposed the negotiated sentence.

Prior to settling on the plea, defense attorney Scott Pletcher told Kagarise that his client had expressed concern about going forward with the trial and spoke of possibly representing himself or hiring an attorney.

"I've only been his counsel for three weeks," Pletcher said.

Kagarise appointed Pletcher in early May after Golden's prior attorney noticed the prosecution's list of trial witnesses included someone he once represented.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.