Accused North Penn meth dealer headed for trial

Eugene Ruffner, 50, faces 7 criminal counts for alleged drug-dealing activity

An accused North Penn meth dealer arrested last month has been ordered by a judge to stand trial on seven criminal counts.

Eugene Leslie Ruffner, 50, of the 700 block of Dickerson Road, appeared for a preliminary hearing Aug. 15 before Lansdale District Judge Edward Levine, who held for trial two counts of felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and five other drug-related felony and misdemeanor counts, records indicate.

Lansdale Police Department Street Crimes Unit detectives said in an affidavit of probable cause that they and Montgomery County Drug Task Force officers learned in April that Ruffner was allegedly peddling methamphetamine and launched an investigation that included a controlled drug buy in the borough during which Ruffner sold meth to a customer.

Cops executed a warrant on Ruffner’s residence and vehicle on July 7 and recovered a bag of suspected crystal meth, as well as digital scales, drug packaging materials, a notebook believed to contain names of drug customers, and more than $1,200 of wrapped currency that was hidden under a bed and contained bills that had been used during the controlled drug buy, court documents say.

Detectives also recovered a cellphone belonging to Ruffner that contained incriminating text messages related to drug sales, the affidavit indicates.

At the hearing, Levine reduced Ruffner’s bail from $50,000 cash to $50,000 unsecured, records show. Formal arraignment in county court is set for Oct. 11.