W. PITTSTON, PA ARYAN BROTHERHOOD LEADER SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS FOR RUNNING BATH SALTS RING

Keystone State “Skinheads” founding member Steve Smith is a Republican committeeman around these parts, but he says he doesn’t like Aryan Brotherhood all that much. How low do you have to be that a guy who was in the Klan, Aryan Nations, KSS and now the GOP thinks you’re beneath him? Todd Morgans (pictured) has 135 months to ponder that.

Times Tribune

A West Pittston white supremacist was sentenced to federal prison for his role in a drug distribution conspiracy in Luzerne County, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Todd Morgans, 35, the reputed head of a local chapter of the Aryan Brotherhood white supremacist group, was sentenced Monday to 135 months incarceration for operating a synthetic drug distribution ring out of his home, according to prosecutors.

>Morgans pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. He entered the plea during a brief hearing before U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion in Scranton.

Morgans, and his fiancee, Christa Policare, were indicted by a grand jury in July 2013 on charges of distributing alpha-PVP, a mind-altering synthetic drug similar to bathsalts, between December 2012 and July 2013.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Phillips said the Department of Homeland Security began the investigation in late 2011. Through a series of controlled buys and video surveillance, authorities developed evidence Morgans and Policare were selling alpha-PVP they purchased from online sellers in China and the United Kingdom.

Policare pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy. She has not yet been sentenced.

Police raided Morgans’ Liberty Street home in July and found roughly 2,000 grams of the drug, guns, ammunition and roughly $40,000 in cash. They also uncovered white supremacist literature.

The plea agreement took into account the death of Jason Folweiler, a person Rogan said died after using alpha-PVP that was purchased from Morgans. Federal sentencing guidelines call for a sentence of at least 14 to 17½ years in prison, but Mannion was free to impose a more severe or lesser sentence. The maximum sentence for the crime is 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office noted that a sentence can include an enhancement that applies when the death or serious bodily injury of another results from the use of the controlled substance. While the investigation surrounding the death of Folweiler remains ongoing, Morgans, in his plea agreement with the government, publicly acknowledged that he delivered drugs to Folweiler and apologized to Folweiler’s family. 

In addition to the prison sentence, Morgans agreed to forfeit $40,000 in cash and a silver bar seized from his home.