William Wylie, Bath Salts Conspiracy, Pennsylvania 2016

SCRANTON—A federal grand jury in Scranton indicted seven people on August 9, 2016, for participating in a conspiracy to sell the substance alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone (a-pvp), commonly referred to as ‘bath salts.’

According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the indictment alleges that the defendants obtained the bath salts from suppliers in China and distributed it to customers in Luzerne County and elsewhere during March 2014 to January 2016. The grand jury also alleges that the conspirators used violence, intimidation, and possessed firearms in furtherance of the drug trafficking activities.

Those charged in the drug conspiracy are:

William Wylie, age 47, of Wilkes-Barre
Jason Randazzo, age 43, of Mountain Top
Daniel Fitzgibbon a/k/a ‘Diz,’ age 46, of Wilkes-Barre
Robert Benussi III, age 25, of Kingston
Kerry Wylie, age 24, of Wilkes-Barre
Kevin Peterson, age 32, of West Pittston
David Popish, age 37, of Pittston

William Wylie, Kerry Wylie, and Jason Randazzo are also charged with conspiracy to import a-pvp from China, and an attempt to possess with intent to distribute a-pvp on December 21, 2015.

William Wylie is further charged with possessing a firearm in connection with drug trafficking, and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

The charges against the defendants resulted from an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the cases.

William Wylie faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a potential maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of the firearms-related to drug trafficking charge, up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the felon-in-possession of a firearm charge, and up to 20 years in prison on each of the conspiracy to distribute and import a-pvp counts.

Kerry Wylie and Jason Randazzo each face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the conspiracy to import and distribute a-pvp counts. The remaining defendants face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the conspiracy to distribute a-pvp count.

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