Drug raid suspect waives detention hearing

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A fourth suspect indicted on fentanyl distribution charges Wednesday following a raid in Elliott last week that sent the city's SWAT unit to the hospital for fentanyl exposure waived his detention hearing Thursday and will remain in U.S. custody pending trial.

Calvin Armstrong, 31, appeared briefly before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan to be arraigned and was then taken back to jail.

The U.S. attorney’s office had asked that Armstrong, who has a criminal history, be detained as a danger to the community.

He among four people indicted on charges of conspiring to distribute fentanyl after a federal raid on a house in Elliott on Aug. 9. During the raid, a table used for packaging fentanyl was overturned. The drug became airborne and sickened 18 members of the SWAT team, who were taken to Mercy Hospital as a precaution.

On Wednesday, Judge Lenihan ordered that the accused ringleader, Lynell Guyton, 27, be held in custody pending trial because of his history of drug dealing and bond violations.

Another defendant, Anthony Lozito, waived detention and remains in custody. The other person charged, Kristen Shearer, was released on bond.

Prosecutors will not comment on the case, but Guyton had been the target of federal law officers since the spring.

The case stems from an investigation initiated in May by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who targeted packages of fentanyl being imported into the U.S. from Hong Kong. One of those packages, according to prosecutors, was sent to Guyton at an address on Chartiers Avenue. is