The Reporter (Lansdale, PA)

Second suspect arrested in drug-dealing case

- By Michael Goldberg mgoldberg@21st-centurymed­ia.com @mgoldberg on Twitter

A second suspect in an alleged Towamencin drug-dealing operation has been arrested.

Luke Porretti, 20, of the 2200 block of Hedgewood Road, has been charged with 15 criminal counts — including multiple felony counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and conspiracy — for allegedly dealing marijuana, MDMA (also known as “Molly”), Xanax and other drugs.

Authoritie­s said in a criminal complaint that the

charges stem from an investigat­ion during which Porretti’s former residence on the 800 block of Continenta­l Drive was raided, and police found in Porretti’s bedroom

THC oil, marijuana, twodozen alprazolam pills (the active ingredient in Xanax), a digital scale, various drug packaging materials, drug parapherna­lia, brass knuckles, a ledger with evidence of drug sales and a wallet containing fake identifica­tion and more than $1,000 in cash, including currency

used during controlled buys conducted during the investigat­ion, court documents indicate.

Detectives said they also discovered a safe belonging to Porretti that, when opened, was found to contain more than 700 alprazolam and Xanax pills, 178 Molly capsules and two

heat-sealed bags filled with more Molly, 62 tabs of LSD and two baby bottles containing a purple substance later confirmed by a lab as levomethor­phan, an illegal opioid analgesic.

A search of Porretti’s car yielded two pills in a bag under the driver’s seat that were later determined via

lab analysis to contain fentanyl, according to court documents.

Porretti and his already arrested alleged co-conspirato­r, 20-year-old Colin Pisut, provided written consent for searches of their cellphones, which turned up “both clear and obscure text messages” between the pair

regarding illegal drug sales, as well as “obvious text messages” between the two suspects and various customers about drug sales, court documents indicate.

Both men are free on $50,000 unsecured bail while awaiting preliminar­y hearings in district court later this month.

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