Indiana County officials round up drug trafficking suspects; others at large

Law enforcement officials in Indiana County arrested several people Thursday in a roundup of drug trafficking suspects.

Six additional suspects remain at large, according to Indiana County District Attorney Robert Manzi.

The seven Indiana residents charged with possession with intent to deliver various drugs and related offenses include:

• Michael Brown, 41 — heroin and fentanyl

• Misti Durante, 38 — cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl

• Melissa Frain, 34 — heroin and fentanyl

• Frank Gardner, 38 — cocaine, heroin and fentanyl

• Brandon Mastarone, 32 — cocaine

• Domenick Triffanoff, 45 — cocaine

• Ashley Weston, 38 — fentanyl.

All seven of the defendants were arraigned before District Judge Guy Haberl in Indiana and placed in the Indiana County Jail after failing to post bail. Bail was set at $50,000 for Gardner and at $30,000 for each of the other suspects.

Kimberly Caylor, 38, of Creekside, was charged with possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine. According to online court documents, she was awaiting formal arraignment.

Darryl Higgins, 38, of Indiana, charged with possession with intent to deliver fentanyl, already is in custody in the state prison system.

Suspects charged with possession with intent to deliver and remaining at large are:

• Raymond Farone, 41, of Pittsburgh — heroin and fentanyl

• Lawrence Westbrook, 44, of Josephine — cocaine

• Nicholas Murphy, 31, of Indiana — heroin and fentanyl

• James Valenti, Jr., 45, of Indiana — cocaine

• David Williams, 60, of Indiana — cocaine

• Randy Bertuzzi, 43, of Clymer — methamphetamine.

The charges resulted from a joint investigation involving Manzi’s Drug Task Force, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, the Indiana County Sheriff’s Office and state police from the Indiana station, along with Indiana Borough and Clymer police.

Thursday’s Operation Strikeout arrests also involved Indiana County probation officers.

“The Indiana County Drug Task Force has done an incredible job over the past three years to focus our efforts on larger-scale drug dealers with the goal of lengthy prison sentences,” said Manzi. “For-profit drug dealers that prey on those individuals battling substance abuse disorders to make a quick buck will only stop when they are behind bars.”