Former Berks man admits role in Montco drug ring
NORRISTOWN » A former Berks County man has admitted to his role in a drug trafficking organization during which authorities alleged he used the U.S. Postal Service to send controlled substances from his recent home in California to drugdealers inMontgomery County.
Newstell Marable Jr., 63, formerly of the 2500 block of Perkiomen Avenue, Mount Penn, and most recently of Long Beach, Calif., pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to charges of corrupt organizations, dealing inproceeds of unlawful activities, possession with intent to deliver marijuana or methamphetamine, conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with incidents that occurred between May and October 2019.
Judge Thomas C. Branca deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Marable, who will also undergo drug and alcohol evaluations. Marable, who also previously resided in Douglass (Berks), was remanded to the county jail without bail to await a sentencing hearing in December.
Marable was among more than a dozen people charged last year in connection with the drug trafficking network. Many of the others are still awaiting court action on various drug-related charges.
“This investigation revealed that the targets of this investigation conspired to sell controlled substances, primarilymethamphetamine, in the Pottstown area…,” county detectives and Pottstown police wrote in the arrest affidavit.
Themain targets utilized the U.S. Postal Service, “as well as other clandestine methods,” to acquire controlled substances for resale from “one of their sources of drug supply” in Long Beach, Calif., “namely Newstell Marable Jr.,” detectives alleged.
“The main targets of this investigation flooded Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with vast amounts of methamphetamine by employing a network of subdealerswho assisted themin distributing methamphetamine to lower-level traffickers and ultimately the enduser of the drug,” detectives continued.
Detect ives al leged Marable was captured by video surveillance at post offices in Long Beach sending parcels to multiple addresses in and around Montgomery County. Some of the parcels containing controlled substances were mailed to residences on Spruce, West Third and Lemon streets in Pottstown, according to court documents.
Marable, detectives alleged, utilized his cellphone to communicatewith his coconspirators to facilitate his role in the drug trafficking enterprise.
The six month investigation involved controlled drug buys, human and electronic surveillance, wiretaps of cellphones, an analysis of phone call detail records and a review of the targets’ social media accounts, according to court papers.
During a search of Marable’s Long Beach residence on Sept. 30, 2019, detectives seized about 4.8 pounds of marijuana in a bedroom closet, according to the criminal complaint.
Court documents indicate other searches occurred at residences in Pottstown and Franconia Township.
The investigation resulted in the seizure of more than five pounds of methamphetamine, more than five pounds of marijuana, three handguns and approximately $15,000 in cash, according to the criminal complaint.
Detectives said methamphetamine is a strong and highly addictive drug that affects the central nervous systemand can cause rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure and damage to small blood vessels in the brain. The drug is commonly abused because of the long-lasting “euphoric effects it produces on the human body,” detectives explained in court papers.
County detectives and Pottstown police were assisted in the investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, the Pennsylvania State Police, Upper Providence Police andWest Pottsgrove Police.
“The main targets of this investigation flooded Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with vast amounts ofmethamphetamineby employing a network of sub-dealerswho assisted them in distributingmethamphetamine to lower-level traffickers andultimately the end-user of the drug.”
— Detectives alleged