ATTORNEY GENERAL HAILS DRUG BUST

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said Friday that law enforcement
officials had penetrated the largest heroin and cocaine trafficking ring
ever to operate in western Pennsylvania.

Ashcroft hailed Operation Family Store, a joint investigation responsible
for the indictments of 11 people, as a model of the type of cooperative
ventures needed to root out crime.

Ashcroft made the announcement in Pittsburgh after meeting with local
anti-terrorism task force officials. He said Allegheny County had 129
heroin-related deaths in 2001, an 88 percent increase over the previous year.

Greg Drews, a local Drug Enforcement Administration agent, said the ring
was responsible for the shipment of cocaine and heroin from Newark, N.J.,
to Pittsburgh and was the largest supplier in the Pittsburgh area.

"We're cutting it off at the top rung of the ladder," Drews said.

The lead investigative agencies were the DEA, Pittsburgh police and the FBI.

Indicted Tuesday were nine area residents, and two men from New York and
New Jersey.

U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said more than 100 local, state and
federal law enforcement officials assisted in the arrest of the suspects on
Thursday.

In the course of the investigation, authorities arranged the traffic stop
of a drug courier who was transporting more than 2.6 kilograms of heroin
with a street value of $1.5 million, Ashcroft said.

The indictment, unsealed yesterday, said the cocaine and heroin trafficking
ring operated out of J.B.'s Coffee Shop and Diner, 2615 Perrysville Ave.,
North Side.

The indictment named as defendants: Oliver Beasley, 38, of Pierce Street,
East Liberty; Donald "Chief" Lyles, 28, of Allegheny Center, North Side;
Edward "Flav" Myrick, 39, of Logan Road, Bethel Park; Pamela "Aunti"
Watson, 53, of Buena Vista Drive, North Side; Jerome "Spike" Hollaman, 37,
of Mount Pleasant Road, North Side; Michael Gyure, 32, of Ivory Avenue,
North Side; Andre Key, 27, of Goshen Street, North Side; Leonard Worth, 49,
of Mayflower Street, East Liberty; Delgardo Scott, 46, of Sherman Avenue,
North Side; Todd Green, 37, of Red Schoolhouse Road, Spring Valley, N.Y.;
and Herbert Felder, 33, of Shepard Avenue, Newark, N. J.

Scott was released on house arrest. A detention hearing will be held
Tuesday for Beasley, Myrick and Lyles. Gyure and Hollaman were released
after posting 10 percent of $50,000 bond. The rest of those indicted are
being held at the Allegheny County Jail.

The seven-count indictment includes a charge that the defendants conspired
to distribute heroin and cocaine. The U.S. Attorney's office in Pittsburgh
said they could face life in prison.

News of the indictments pleased two police chiefs in Pittsburgh's suburbs.

"I'm obviously very happy this happened," Carnegie police Chief Jeff Harbin
said. "Carnegie, unfortunately, had three incidents that brought a renewed
problem to the community.

"I welcome this huge arrest. Hopefully, it will curtail the problem we, and
other communities, have been having."

Bethel Park police Chief John Mackey said: "I'm obviously thrilled with
that news because I know that some of the heroin that came into Bethel Park
came from the North Side. I hope that it (the bust) has a significant
impact on the problems we've been experiencing.

"Unfortunately, there is still a demand out there - that's the
problem. Kids go where they have to, to buy drugs. Time will tell."

The indictment seeks the forfeiture of a silver Mercedes Benz, four other
vehicles and at least $5 million in "cash equivalents, and bank account
balances." It also seeks the forfeiture of several properties and
businesses, including J.B.'s Coffee Shop and Diner and Beeda Bees Beauty
Salon, 2537 Perrysville Ave., North Side.

This is not the first time that Beasley, identified by authorities as the
head of the drug trafficking network, has been in trouble. An Allegheny
County detective arrested Beasley on July 27, 1998, after a police officer
eating in Sammy's Famous Corned Beef restaurant on Smithfield Street,
Downtown, saw him pick up a black backpack another diner left behind. The
backpack contained 13.2 kilos of cocaine.

The state Superior Court in October 2000 upheld a ruling from Allegheny
Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel that found the seizure of the backpack
was inadmissible because the detective lacked reasonable suspicion that
Beasley was engaged in criminal activity.

Beasley was on probation in a federal narcotics arrest at the time of his
1998 arrest.

Also attending Ashcroft's news conference were other area law enforcement
officials, DEA administrator Asa Hutchinson and state Attorney General Mike
Fisher.