Suspected leader of large-scale drug ring due in court today

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The reputed leader of a largescale opiate, cocaine and crack ring in Pittsburgh whose Daytona Beach, Fla., property has been seized by the government in a forfeiture action is set to appear in federal court today for a detention hearing.

Richard Wright of Banksville and an alleged associate, Walter Amman of Brookline, were charged by complaint last week following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the criminal division of the IRS.

The investigation first came to light publicly in December when prosecutors moved to forfeit a Daytona Beach house that Mr. Wright and his wife, Michele Connell, bought in 2015 for $200,000 with what federal agents said was money from his drug trafficking operation.

In an affidavit to support the forfeiture, agents said Mr. Wright ran a network that shipped cocaine from Florida to Pittsburgh, where his gang broke down the coke into personal-use quantities and cooked some of it into crack for Pittsburgh customers.

The group also sold opiates in the Pittsburgh region, prosecutors said.

Mr. Amman is identified as one of the leaders with Mr. Wright.

Agents searched their Pittsburgh properties, a garage and their cars on Jan. 11 and said they recovered drugs, $40,000 in cash and guns from Mr. Wright’s house, and drugs and cash from Mr. Amman’s house and vehicle.

Both men appeared Tuesday before a federal magistrate judge. Mr. Amman was ordered detained pending trial and Mr. Wright’s hearing was pushed back until today.