Man awaits trial on drug charges

NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A man authorities have accused of distributing more than $250,000 worth of cocaine annually in the city will have his case scheduled for trial.
Tony L. McKnight, 38, no address listed, was to appear Thursday for a preliminary hearing in Lawrence County Central Court on several charges linked to the alleged cocaine sales. Dennis A. Elisco, his attorney, said McKnight waived his right to that hearing and a district justice reduced his bond from $100,000 to $20,000.
McKnight is being held at the State Correctional Institute in Mercer on a parole violation, Elisco said. A hearing on the parole violation should be held in the next month and then he should be eligible to post bail for release until his trial, he said.
McKnight should be formally arraigned in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court sometime in the next few months and then a trial date will be set.
McKnight is charged with possession of cocaine, delivery of cocaine, criminal use of a communication facility and criminal conspiracy. He was one of 23 people arrested March 23 in a joint effort by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office, Lawrence County Drug Task Force, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and local police.