Local

Resident of Fayette nursing center charged with dealing heroin

UNIONTOWN, Pa. — A Fayette County man sold heroin from his room at a nursing home, according to a state narcotics agent.

Roosevelt Lee "Roe" Kennedy, 41, of Uniontown is charged by the state attorney general's office with nine counts of possession with intent to deliver, five counts of possession and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.

In an affidavit of probable cause, Agent Ronald R. Sepic Jr. said Kennedy sold heroin to a confidential informant and an undercover agent on four occasions between Oct. 3 and Jan. 31.

Two of the sales were made from a room in the Cherry Tree Nursing Center on Terrace Drive in Uniontown, according to the affidavit.

Kennedy was undergoing rehabilitation for an undisclosed injury at the nursing center on Jan. 29 when he directed the undercover agent and a confidential informant to meet him there, Sepic wrote.

When the agent and informant arrived at Kennedy's room, Kennedy gave them eight packages containing 1.7 grams of cocaine in exchange for $500, the affidavit said.

Believing they were shorted, the undercover agent and the informant went back to the nursing home two days later, where Kennedy gave them a package containing 0.2 grams of heroin, Sepic said.

A few hours later on the same day, Sepic and three other agents returned to the nursing home, where Kennedy gave them permission to search the room, the affidavit said. The officers found two packets containing 0.9 grams of heroin, three tablets, $104 in cash, a cellphone and a list of phone numbers.

The other sales occurred earlier in Uniontown, according to the affidavit.

On Oct. 3, Kennedy met the informant and undercover agent on Gallatin Avenue, where he exchanged 0.68 grams of heroin for $200. On Oct. 17, Kennedy met the two at the corner of Connellsville Street and Lincoln Avenue, where he gave them 1.7 grams of heroin in exchange for $600, according to the affidavit.

Kennedy was arraigned Friday before Uniontown District Judge Michael Metros and placed in the county jail in lieu of $150,000 bond. He awaits a preliminary hearing 11 a.m. June 24 before Metros.

This article was written by Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE.