Saturday, June 8, 2002
STRUTHERS -- The younger half of what police call a father-and-son suburban drug dealing team was released from the Mahoning County jail after posting bail.
Christopher Gentile, 29, of 6737 Clingan Road in Poland, appeared before Judge James Lanzo on Friday in Struthers Municipal Court, where a preliminary hearing on drug charges was extended for 30 days.
After posting $40,000 bond, he was taken back to the jail where he was processed and released.
Gentile was arrested last Saturday after members of the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force and Struthers and Poland police departments executed search warrants at his home and the Struthers residence of his 49-year-old father, Larry Gentile, at 109 Clingan Road.
Larry Gentile has not been arrested.
Seized during the raids were suspected cocaine, drug processing equipment, a list of suspected drug customers and weapons, including a machine gun with a silencer. Most of the items were found in a hidden room in the basement of the Struthers home.
Documents related to the searches were sealed Tuesday by Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum. The order prohibits public access to a search warrant, an affidavit supporting the warrant and other documents.
In the application to seal the documents, Assistant Prosecutor Michael T. Villani wrote the task force needs at least four weeks to investigate additional evidence seized.