CMU grad student charged with operating meth distribution ring

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PITTSBURGH –  A Squirrel Hill resident and current graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University was arrested and charged Wednesday with operating a methamphetamine distribution ring that stretched from Allegheny County to the state of California.

David Holly, 44, was taken into custody at his residence following an investigation that began last year.

While being led away in handcuffs, Holly denied any involvement in the drug ring.

On his official CMU profile, Holly listed “history of drugs” under his academic interest. The profile also states that he graduated from University of California, Berkeley and the City College of San Francisco.

According to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, detectives from the District Attorney Narcotics Enforcement Team and the Pennsylvania State Police last year received information that someone was attempting to establish an operation in eastern Allegheny County to distribute "ICE," which is an extremely powerful and addictive derivative of methamphetamine.

The DA’s office said Holly targeted areas, including Monroeville, Penn Hills and Delmont, in Westmoreland County.

Through various covert investigative methods, detectives learned that Holly would make frequent trips to California to acquire the drug and then mail it back to himself in Pittsburgh.

Last December, State Police detectives intercepted two parcels that Holly allegedly mailed from California. One parcel was sent to his Squirrel Hill apartment on Aylesboro Avenue and the other to his office on the CMU campus. Both parcels contained methamphetamine, and Holly was subsequently arrested and then released on bond.

After that arrest, the DA’s office teamed up with state police to continue the investigation, which resulted in an undercover purchase Tuesday night of what was believed to be an ounce of methamphetamine.

Detectives said they also confiscated wads of $100 and $20 bills.

The DA’s office said police officers from North Versailles, Swissvale and McKees Rocks also participated in the investigation.

WPXI