2 members of Duquesne-based heroin ring convicted in federal court

The last two members of a New Jersey-supplied heroin ring based in Duquesne that bragged about its drug-dealing prowess on YouTube have been convicted of conspiracy to deal heroin and will be headed to federal prison in the fall.

Lance Yarbough and his cousin Anthony Pryor, both associated with an organization calling itself Hardcore Entertainment that shipped up to 2,000 bricks of heroin a week on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, were among 19 people indicted in U.S. District Court three years ago following a wiretap investigation by local police and the FBI.

They elected a bench trial in the winter before U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, who deferred ruling until last week, when he issued an opinion convicting them.

The judge said testimony showed that Yarbough was among the leaders of Hardcore and Pryor, while not considered a member of the gang, participated in the drug conspiracy.

The trial was unusually contentious by staid federal court standards in that four government witnesses refused to testify despite a grant of immunity, leading to separate indictments against them. The judge had also threatened to have U.S. Marshals arrest spectators in the gallery because they were disrupting the proceedings.

Testimony from witnesses and law officers revealed that Hardcore enlisted drivers to transport heroin from New Jersey to Pittsburgh and used rap videos to promote its business and intimidate rival drug gangs. Government exhibits included images from videos

showing members flashing gang signs and posing with stacks of cash.

The FBI built the investigation on controlled buys, surveillance and taps of cell phones, and many of the gang members became government witnesses.

The case began with the investigation in 2010 of the Manchester OGs on the North Side.

FBI Agent Leonard Piccini testified that intercepted messages in that case mentioned the robbery of Corey Thompson and identified him as leader of Hardcore.

The FBI then teamed with local police who were familiar with the gang members and began building a case with controlled buys and eventually wiretaps that revealed the inner workings of the gang.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said Hardcore represented the remnants of another drug ring dismantled by the federal investigation of Angie Morgan and her son, Michael Milton, who ran a heroin operation in Duquesne from 2006 to 2008.

Morgan and Milton shipped heroin to Pittsburgh New York and New Jersey.

After they went to prison, leadership switched to Christopher Thompson and his brother Corey Thompson. Both went to prison, after which Donte Yarbough, Lance Yarbough’s brother, took over along with the late Lawrence Short.

They bought their heroin from Khayri Battle, their New Jersey supplier and a government witness.

Hardcore shipped huge quantities of heroin into the region, according to witnesses.

“Corey Thompson testified that between 2008 and 2012, the Pittsburgh area organization was moving ‘anywhere from probably 500 to 1,000, [to] 2,000 bricks weekly,’” Judge Walton wrote in his opinion.

The judge said the government proved Yarbough was a significant player in the conspiracy despite being in jail much of the time.

“Although Yarbough was incarcerated from October 2008 through August 2011, a significant portion of the time period alleged in the indictment, the evidence nonetheless clearly demonstrated that Lance Yarbough was a knowing participant and had a substantial role in the charged heroin distribution conspiracy while he was not incarcerated,” he ruled.

He said Pryor, although considered a “flunky” and a “loser” by Hardcore and not a real member of the group, was still involved in distributing heroin with the Yarbough brothers, Corey Thompson and others.

Both will be sentenced in October.

The trial generated separate cases against four witnesses, including Kharyi Battle, on contempt of court charges. Prosecutors said Battle, of Newark, N.J., three Duquesne residents refused to testify despite a written order from Judge Walton compelling them to take the stand under a grant of immunity.