Drug-rehab center operator held without bond for heroin sales

A well-known drug counselor charged with using his rehabilitation center to deal drugs will remain in federal custody without bond pending trial in U. S. District Court.

A magistrate judge on Thursday signed an order that David Francis, 66, who founded and ran Next Step Foundation in McKees Rocks, is a danger to the community and will remain locked up.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and local police arrested Mr. Francis Oct. 6.

Agents said he purported to help addicts at Next Step but was really dealing heroin and fentanyl from the facility and other properties he owns in the area.

In his ruling, U. S. Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchell noted that agents presented evidence that Mr. Francis' distribution network led to two overdose deaths and that addicts said they bought directly from him.

A DEA complaint says agents and police noticed a spike in heroin and fentanyl overdoses in July in McKees Rocks and Ingram.

The investigation led them to Mr. Francis and his Next Step operation on Broadway Avenue, with numerous addicts identifying Mr. Francis as their supplier.

Law officers said Mr. Francis kept heroin and fentanyl at his house on Chartiers Avenue and that drug addicts used a second residence behind that house to use the heroin he sold them.

In addition, the DEA said Mr. Francis operated another business called All Personal Matters, purportedly a tax service, on Broadway Avenue two doors down from the rehab center that he also used to distribute drugs.

One informant told officers that he bought bricks of heroin from Mr. Francis for $350 and another said he'd seen shoe boxes filled with heroin in Mr. Francis' house.

The complaint says that from February 2016 to last month, police responded to 11 incidents and overdoses at the reh a b center and the nearby tax business.

During raids on the properties on the morning of Oct. 6, officers found three addicts inside the rehab center.

“These individuals admitted to law enforcement that they had been using drugs all night,” the complaint says.

“They specifically admitted to using fentanyl which they stated had been obtained from David Francis, and specifically called the drugs ' China White.'”

Officers said the place was littered with stamp bags and needles on counters.

In ordering Mr. Francis held as a danger, Judge Mitchell also noted that he has a lengthy criminal record from other states.

Mr. Francis is charged by direct complaint but is expected to be indicted by a federal grand jury, which may add more charges and defendants.

Federal prosecutors have 30 days to indict following the filing of a complaint.

Mr. Francis' lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.