Four people were arrested Friday on drug charges.
The arrests were part of an ongoing investigation into the illegal distribution of narcotics in the New Castle area. They followed the search of a building at 917 S. Mercer St. by New Castle City Code Enforcement officials.
Donald A. Carbone, 22, of New Castle, Larry Dweing Stephens, 33, and Jon Sean Garner, 45, both of Detroit, and Gary Steven Smith, 30, of Ferndale, Mich., were arraigned before District Judge Scott A. McGrath. They were placed in the Lawrence County jail.
Bond was set at $100,000 for each of them.
The four men all were charged with two felony counts of possession with intent to deliver and two misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance.
A preliminary hearing for Stephens, Garner, Carbone and Smith is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
As a result of the search, officers located and seized about 7.2 ounces of crack cocaine, a digital weighing scale, $1,150 in currency, multiple cellular phones and miscellaneous narcotics paraphernalia.
Involved in the seizure were officers from New Castle City Police, Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General and Drug Enforcement Administration in cooperation with the Lawrence County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force.
According to police reports, code enforcement officials had gone to the South Mercer Street address to document deplorable conditions that had been reported there and to secure it.
