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Andrea Sullin

By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER tmorgan@leader.net
 Wednesday, December 19, 2001 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 11A 





For the Record: 12/20/01 A story and headline about a drug bust on the
Region page Wednesday gave erroneus information about two juveniles arrested.
The two are not students in the Greater Nanticoke Area School District. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; HANOVER TWP. - A four-month undercover investigation resulted in the
Tuesday arrest of 11 people on charges they sold marijuana, heroin, cocaine
and prescription drugs in the township and Nanticoke areas. Two students in
the Greater Nanticoke Area School District were among those arrested. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Township police and other members of the Luzerne County Drug Task Force
began rounding up the suspects, which included two juveniles, at 6 a.m. Police
confiscated about a half-pound of marijuana in the raids, as well as $5,384
taken from one suspect, said township Officer John Halliday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Halliday said the investigation began in August. Police used confidential
informants and two undercover officers to make multiple drug buys. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``We pretty much knew who the players were. It was just a matter of getting
someone to get their foot in the door. That's what the confidential informant
did,'' Halliday said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Halliday described those arrested as ``street level'' dealers. He said
their customers included about 30 students from Greater Nanticoke Area. The
sales took place off school grounds, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``That bothers me tremendously,'' said Nanticoke Superintendent Anthony
Perrone when told students were identified as customers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Perrone said the district is proactive in educating students about the
dangers of drugs and runs drug and alcohol programs ``all the time.'' He said
the district also has a full-time drug and alcohol counselor on staff and had
brought in drug-sniffing dogs last year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``It's frustrating for us. It's frustrating for parents and I guess it's
frustrating for police, too,'' he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Arrested were: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Matthew Wilcox, 20, Old Newport Street, Nanticoke, for possession and
delivery of marijuana. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kenneth Paveletz, 19, Park Street, Nanticoke, for possession and delivery
of OxyContin, a prescription pain killer. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Michael O'Donnell, 18, East Main Street, Glen Lyon, for possession and
delivery of marijuana. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Josh Rogozinski, 20, Morgan Street, West Nanticoke, for possession,
delivery and conspiracy to deliver marijuana. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 James Hynes, 19, South Hanover Street, Nanticoke, for possession and
delivery of marijuana and cocaine. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Christopher Wylie, 21, Center Street, Nanticoke, for delivery, possession
and conspiracy to deliver marijuana. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Vincent Vasquez, 19, Shea Street, Nanticoke, for possession, delivery and
conspiracy to deliver heroin. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 David Romanowski, 19, East Poplar Street, West Nanticoke, for the
possession, delivery and conspiracy to deliver heroin. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Katherine Naturile, 22, Shea Street, Nanticoke, for possession, delivery
and conspiracy to deliver heroin. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The two juveniles are charged with delivery and possession of heroin and
marijuana, respectively. They were lodged in the Luzerne County Juvenile
Detention Center. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Perrone said many of those arrested are former students in the district who
``went around together'' while in school. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Some of those kids were kids we knew about that we put out of school,''
he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 All suspects were arraigned before District Justice Joseph Halesey in
Hanover Township and bails were set ranging from $8,000 to $32,000.
Preliminary hearings were scheduled for Dec. 28, but Halliday said he's been
told that date will likely change. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Halliday said Wright Township and Nanticoke police departments aided the
investigation. The departments that took part in the roundup of suspects were:
Nanticoke, Wright Township, Fairview Township, Kingston, Plymouth Township,
Newport Township, Butler Township, the state Attorney General's office, the
county's District Attorney's Office and the Luzerne County Probation
Department. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

2 Students Among 11 Facing Drug Charges Greater Nanticoke Area Pupils Facing Possession And Delivery Charges After A Four-month Probe.