After the trial for the "Operation Drive Thru" drug case was continued in July, three of the five defendants filed motions for reductions of their bail. Last week, President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman made his ruling.
He denied bail reductions for Charles Gearhart, 38, 145 Hunter Road, Woodland, and Maharaji Hemingway, 31, 1631 W. 26th St., Philadelphia, who are accused of selling drugs in connection with the ring that allegedly brought illegal drugs into Clearfield County.
Bail for Gearhart remains at $150,000 and $1 million for Hemingway.
A bail reduction was granted for Kenneth V. Smeal, 39, 7876 Shiloh Road, Shiloh. His bail was reduced to $25,000, unsecured. Smeal posted his bail Monday.
The investigation became known as "Operation Drive Thru" because Gearhart and his wife, Danielle allegedly sold drugs to customers who literally drove their vehicles up to a window of their mobile home on an almost daily basis.
A grand jury found that Gearhart was a major dealer for Michael Styers and sometimes traveled with Styers to obtain cocaine. He and Styers regularly met Hemingway by the Philadelphia Zoo and bought cocaine. Hemingway was allegedly responsible with supplying Styers with more than $1 million worth of cocaine. Upon returning to Clearfield, Styers and Gearhart sold the cocaine to local customers.
The trial was delayed after Ammerman granted a defense motion to prohibit the testimony of 34 witnesses who had previously testified before the grand jury because the Attorney General's office failed to provide the defense with copies of the original testimonies by a deadline set in February.
Dave Gorman, who is prosecuting the case for the AG's office, said he planned to appeal Ammerman's decision.
The other two defendants scheduled for trial are Michael Styers, 51, 138 South Diamond, Mercer and Michael Gearhart, 42, 306 Ogden Ave., Clearfield. They are also incarcerated. Styers' bail is $500,000 and a motion has been made to reduce Michael Gearhart's bail, which is $150,000. That motion will be discussed in the Aug. 11 session of motions court.
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