Cops: Video games behind drug deal
Transaction to finance PlayStation
Jonathan Smith and Troy Scott really wanted to play video games on Monday.
So much so that Mr. Smith figured he would sell crack to raise the $100 a couple of 16-year-old boys wanted for the PlayStation 3 they had.
He got close, too - Mr. Smith, 22, homeless, had just sold $80 worth of drugs to a customer near the South Side Shopping Center when a team of Lackawanna County detectives stopped Mr. Scott's Jeep at Beech Street and South Webster Avenue shortly after noon, according to a criminal complaint.
Inside the car, investigators found Mr. Scott, 25, of Scranton, driving, Mr. Smith in the passenger seat with the $80 and an iPhone he used to set up drug deals as well as the two 16-year-old boys hocking the PlayStation in the back seat, authorities said.
Both of the teenagers were released to one of their fathers but not before detectives found a marijuana pipe on one of them, according to the complaint.
Meanwhile, Mr. Smith explained that he was trying to sell $100 worth of crack to buy the PlayStation 3 that day.
He was charged with delivery of a controlled substance, criminal conspiracy, criminal use of a communication facility, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Mr. Scott, who had $757 and two cellphones on him at the time of the arrest, was charged with conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance.
Mr. Smith and Mr. Scott were sent to Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $75,000 and $35,000 bail, respectively.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 7.
Both juveniles were released. A charge of possession of drug paraphernalia will be filed via summons against the one who had the pipe, detectives said.
Contact the writer: domalley@timesshamrock.com, @domalleytt on Twitter