Three members of Braddock drug gang plead guilty

The leader of a drug gang calling itself SCO that operated in and around Braddock admitted to a federal judge Thursday to his crimes and will be headed to prison in the summer.

Howard McFadden, 30, of Turtle Creek pleaded guilty to conspiring with other gang members to distribute heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine.

Two other accused drug ring members — Donald Singleton, 48, of Penn Hills and Chadlin Leavy, 31, of Pittsburgh — also pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court.

McFadden and the others had been among 33 people arrested in June in a federal takedown following an investigation by an FBI task force targeting drug-dealing in Braddock.

Wiretaps and surveillance revealed that a self-titled gang, SCO, was distributing narcotics throughout the area and that McFadden was the leader.

Prosecutors said McFadden used younger SCO members and associates as couriers for drug transactions. He also used several properties in Braddock, some of which he owned through his house-flipping business — H&M Home Solutions — as stash houses for drugs.

Agents conducting surveillance said they saw McFadden and another conspirator sitting in McFadden’s vehicle and placing a clear plastic bag with suspected narcotics onto a scale on the armrest.

During his arrest, law officers seized his Jeep Grand Cherokee, a gun, jewelry and $23,000 in cash.

As part of his plea, McFadden admitted to conspiring to distribute over 1,000 grams of heroin, 2,500 grams of cocaine and 371 grams of cocaine base.

Singleton, one of McFadden’s close associates, was intercepted on wiretaps regularly talking to McFadden about drug trafficking. As part of his plea, he admitted that he gave McFadden advice on drug dealing, provided the names of suppliers and let him use an apartment at the Wellington Square complex in Penn Hills to process cocaine into crack.

Leavy was identified during the investigation as a source for McFadden. Law officers stopped him on June 12, the day of the roundup, while he was en route to meet with a source to buy up to 30 pounds of marijuana with $30,000 in his vehicle. Agents and police searched Leavy’s residence and seized his Mercedes, more than $42,000 in cash, four guns and jewelry.

U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab said he’d sentence Leavy on May 21, Singleton on July 15 and McFadden on July 28.