YOUNGSTOWN Jury indicts 4 on drug charges

A federal grand jury indicted two Californians and two from Youngstown.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Conni S. Richmond stuffed 1,000 to 2,000 OxyContin pills into her makeup case each time she flew from California to sell the powerful painkillers to two West Side distributors, police say.
After a six-month investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration Youngstown office and Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force, a federal grand jury in Cleveland handed up a six-count indictment Tuesday.
The charges include conspiracy to possess and distribute oxycodone, possession with intent to distribute oxycodone and methadone (an opiate) and unlawful use of a communication facility (a phone).
The grand jury indicted:
URichmond, 39, of Anaheim, Calif., formerly of Youngstown.
UTerrence P. Moore, 50, of North Richview Avenue.
URobert M. Getsy, 44, of Glacier Avenue.
UJordean J. Listoe, 68, of Cypress, Calif.
City Patrolmen Brian Simmons and Stephen Price, members of the task force, served as case agents. Simmons said Richmond, who still has family in Liberty, had known Getsy in high school and Getsy and Moore were friends.
Obtains pills
Simmons said Richmond obtained the pills from Listoe, put them in prescription bottles and placed them in her makeup case. The bottles would not likely attract a screener's attention at airports, he said.
Richmond served as courier for three or four shipments before the investigation began, Simmons said. He described Moore and Getsy as the local distributors.
Listoe, who was arrested in California, will stand trial in Cleveland, along with Richmond, Moore and Getsy. Simmons said the investigation continues to find Listoe's supplier.
The arrest
Acting on a tip, the DEA and task force set up surveillance and, on May 11, used a search warrant at Moore's house on North Richview after seeing Getsy enter it with a bag. Reports show that, of the 1,300 pills brought in from California by Richmond, police confiscated 726 OxyContin pills and $17,000 at the house.
Richmond had flown to Pittsburgh International Airport and received a ride to a Liberty motel. She was arrested there, and agents said they seized 23 OxyContin pills, 176 methadone pills, cash and drug paraphernalia.
Street buyers paid $40 to $50 apiece for the OxyContin pills, Simmons said. Typically, the buyers were men and women who got addicted to OxyContin after having it legally prescribed by a doctor for pain, he said.
Once the doctor stopped prescribing the pills, the addicts would buy them from drug dealers, Simmons said. Sometimes, holders of a valid monthly prescription would sell half of it at a profit then buy back what they needed from street dealers when they ran out in midmonth, he said.
meade@vindy.com