DRUG CASE Attorney says ex-teacher can't be tried in 2 states

Prosecutors say the charges are different in each state.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The attorney for a former Mohawk High School physical education teacher facing drug charges in Pennsylvania and Ohio says he believes his client should not face charges in both states.
Timothy J. Mosley, 29, of East Leasure Avenue appeared Thursday in Lawrence County Central Court to waive his right to a preliminary hearing on charges of delivery of a controlled substance, possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of a controlled substance in the Lawrence County case.
He also faces conspiracy to distribute and possess drugs in federal court in Cleveland.
Arrested in Pa.
He was arrested Aug. 3 in Bessemer, Pa., with 174 OxyContin pills, a powerful prescription pain killer. Court records state he got the pills from Harold R. Wilson of 1919 Peachtree Court in Poland, Ohio. Wilson and Karen Wilson, also of Poland, also face conspiracy charges.
Mosley's attorney, Dennis Elisco, said he believes his client cannot be prosecuted in both states. He contends it is double jeopardy, the provision in the constitution prohibiting government from trying a person twice on the same offense.
But Lawrence County District Attorney Matthew Mangino and the U.S. Attorney's office in Cleveland disagree with Elisco.
Mangino said the charges are different in both states.
"Our opinion was he was arrested in Ohio for conspiracy, but he possessed OxyContin in Pennsylvania," Mangino said. He faces up to five years in prison and a $15,000 fine here, according to the district attorney.
Mangino said the cases are parallel, but not the same.
Bill Edwards of the U.S. attorney's office in Cleveland said he also believes Mosley can be prosecuted in both states.
"Charging and prosecuting an individual in two different sovereigns, i.e. the state of Pennsylvania and the federal district court, is not double jeopardy. The [U.S.] Supreme Court ruled on that many years ago because of the idea there are duel sovereigns with different statutes," Edwards said.
cioffi@vindy.com