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WEST CHESTER — The last time that Samuel Carr drew a free breath, Donald Trump had been in the White House for just three days.
The Philadelphia Eagles had not yet won the Super Bowl and no one knew what the term “Philly Special” meant. Taylor Swift fans were about to get a glimpse of her “I Don’t Want to Live Forever” video, and techies were still marveling at the brand new iPhone 8. COVID-19 was not even on the horizon.
But since Jan. 23, 2017, when he was apprehended in Lancaster County after a car chase, Carr has spent his days and nights within the confines — pardon the pun — of the Chester County Prison, awaiting trial on the drug and weapons charges that law enforcement filed against him as part of a massive, sophisticated investigation into a large, significant methamphetamine drug trafficking ring operating out of southern Chester County.
Carr, formerly of Quarryville, is believed to be the longest continually serving inmate at the Pocopson prison, with some referring to him as the “mayor of Chester County Prison.” He has been incarcerated now for more than seven years as his case proceeded haltingly through the county criminal justice system.
Carr, 56, has seen his case handled by two Common Pleas judges, four prosecutors, and six defense attorneys. Two of his former attorneys have been disbarred, one was sent to prison, and one died tragically. One of the prosecutors assigned to his case — Assistant District Attorney Michelle Barone — left her position in the D.A.’s Office, took a job as an assistant county solicitor in West Chester, then went to work for the Philadelphia City Solicitor’s Office, and has now returned to the D.A.’s Office just in time to see Carr finally go to trial.
His court docket runs to 44 pages, and contains dozens and dozens of trial continuances and multiple pro se letters sent from the prison to the court. There is a little more salt then pepper in his hair and beard than there was when he was booked and processed, and he now sports reading glasses.
His latest attorney, Brian McCarthy of West Whiteland, has blamed much of the time that he has spent in jail awaiting trial on the delays in trials caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and changes in Carr’s attorneys and the prosecutors assigned to the case. But his attempt to have the charges against Carr thrown out was dismissed by Judge Ann Marie Wheatcraft, who took over for now Senior Judge David Bortner earlier this year.
Carr’s detention at the county prison will last at least a few more months. On Wednesday, a Common Plea Court jury of seven men and five women found him guilty on all charges filed against him — possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activities, criminal use of a communications facility, corrupt organizations, flight to avoid apprehension, and illegal possession of a firearm.
The panel, which had heard testimony over a three day period in Judge Ann Marie Wheatcraft’s courtroom, deliberated for under two hours before returning with their verdict.
Wheatcraft ordered Carr’s $100,000 bail revoked, and said she would set sentencing for later this year.
The case that enveloped Carr began in 2016 as law enforcement — including investigators from the Chester County Detectives, the state police, and the regional High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force — began what came to be known as “Operation Crushed Ice.” It’s aim was to take apart the Maitre Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) that was run by a convicted drug dealer, Richard “Ricky” Maitre II. The organization was believed to be in the business of selling massive quantities of crystal methamphetamine, the illegal drug known colloquially as “ice.”
The Maitre DTO was centered in southern Chester County, but also had operations reaching throughout the region and across the United States, as far away as Arizona and Puerto Rico, according to authorities. Those charged allegedly trafficked in large quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and prescription drugs.
Maitre was identified in court documents as an “upper-echelon drug trafficker and a principal member of a wide-ranging drug trafficking organization. In a court document produced at Carr’s trial, veteran county Detective Joseph Nangle, an expert in narcotics investigation, identified Carr as “Maitre’s right hand man, trusted by Maitre, debt collector, runner, and enforcer.”
“The Maitre DTO also operated like a retail business, with a product for every need,” the complaint against the organization stated. It depends on a large scale distribution of drugs, with participants buying kilo-sized shipments of cocaine and pounds of methamphetamine. It is comprised of violent, repeat felons who routinely benefitted and shared in the proceeds of Maitre’s operation. He was the manager, and although there were more than 40 co-conspirators, “each member of the DTO ultimately reported to Maitre,” the complaint reads. “He has displayed an unwillingness to cease selling controlled substances.”
In his defense of Carr, McCarthy attempted to convince the jury that the evidence against his client was weak, and that the connections between him and Maitre were not criminal but social. Carr had a full time job as an excavating contractor and had no need to deal in illegal drugs.
Carr did not testify.
In her presentation of the evidence, however, Assistant Jessica Acito of the D.A.’s Drug Unit, had testimony not only from Nangle about the connections he made between Carr and Maitre — including tape-recorded telephone conversations they had about drug shipment arrivals during 2016 and 2017 and Carr’s desire to purchase large quantities of the drug.
She also presented the testimony of one of the members of the Maitre DTO, Michael Zelek, who confirmed that Carr was involved in the organization and was dealing drugs alongside him.
Law enforcement executed search warrants against maitre’s operations on Jan. 12, 2017. At a house on Chesterville Road in London Grove, they found approximately 6 pounds of methamphetamine — 3 pounds in the house itself and another 3 pounds in a Mercedes that Maitre was using.
During the raid, police seized not only methamphetamine, but also heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and prescription drugs. The police found over 40 firearms, both hand guns and long guns. Law enforcement also seized cash, over 20 vehicles, and paraphernalia associated with drug trafficking, such as scales and packaging materials. Maitre briefly escaped, but eventually was captured on Jan. 25.
Carr reportedly fled his home in Lancaster County, and was not taken into custody until Nangle was able to track him using cell phone technology. He was apprehended by state police units after a brief chase in rural Lancaster County that ended when he crashed his Mazda sedan into a tree in a field.
He has been in prison ever since.
If the sentence that Maitre received in 2018 from Bortner — 20 to 40 years in a state prison — is any indication, Carr is facing a long stretch behind bars when Wheatcraft issues her sentence later this year. But he does have one advantage: all the time that he has spent in Chester County Prison will be credited against his ultimate penalty.
To contact staff reporter Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.
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