HONESDALE -- Wayne County District Attorney Patrick L. Robinson announced that five alleged drug dealers were charged by the Wayne County Drug Task Force on Friday.
Task force members arrested Bridge Fountain, 36, of Forest City, Andrew Ott, 23, of Equinunk, and Zachary Canfield, also 23, of Equinunk. Two others, Elijah Watson, 30, of Pike County and Connie McKeeby, 24, of Lake Ariel are still wanted by law enforcement. Anyone with information about their whereabouts should call the Wayne County Drug Task Force at 570-253-4912.
Fountain and Ott face two felony counts each of delivery of heroin and criminal use of a communication facility, as do Watson and McKeeby. Canfield has been charged with one count of delivery of suboxone and two counts of criminal use of a communication facility. Bail for Fountain and Canfield was set at $35,00 and at $85,000 for Ott.
DA Robinson said, “The Opioid/Heroin crisis must be addressed by treatment, education, and prosecution. I fully support treatment for the addicted and prevention by education. However, the only direct action that the District Attorney’s Office can take is to investigate, arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate these Heroin dealers. That we will continue to do to the best of our ability.”
He also said, “A recent case, unrelated to the five arrests made today, illustrates the typical drug case in Wayne County.” Those defendants would travel to Paterson, NJ, on a daily basis to purchase approximately 200 bags of heroin for $520 and sell them for $600 to $800, which they would split. The defendants used the majority of the money to support their own habits of 50 bags of heroin a day or more.
“This, in my opinion, is a slow form of suicide,” Robinson stated. “A suicide that endangers not only the drug dealer, but our entire community. The citizens of Wayne County can play a significant role in addressing the Opioid/Heroin Crisis in Wayne County by reporting suspicious drug related activity to the Wayne County Drug Task Force.”
Anonymous tips can be made via text to 570-391-0657 or can submitted online.