3 men accused of trafficking 'mass amounts' of fentanyl in Allegheny, Somerset

A yearlong investigation into drug trafficking in Allegheny and Somerset counties culminated Tuesday with charges being filed against three men who investigators say trafficked “mass amounts” of fentanyl in the counties.

The investigation, overseen by the state Attorney General’s Office, recovered dozens of bricks of heroin and fentanyl and hundreds of grams of cocaine with a street value of more than $217,000.

“We will not sit idly by when dealers peddle poisons and try to profit from devastating our communities,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a statement. “With two guns recovered from these searches, including an automatic assault rifle, this is a firm reminder that drug trafficking is a violent enterprise.”

A complaint filed in the case said the investigation began when a confidential informant identified William Ely, 41, of Wilkinsburg, as a “large-scale heroin dealer” who regularly sold 30 to 50 bricks of heroin to a customer in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

The complaint said narcotics agents had been staking out a home on Camp Street that Ely used as a stash house in June 2021 when they followed him to Dakota Street where he met a man later identified as Tony Burnsworth, 44, of Somerset County.

A subsequent traffic stop of Burnsworth turned up 35 bricks of heroin and nearly 13.5 grams of cocaine, the complaint said.

“Burnsworth explained that he had been purchasing increasing quantities of heroin/fentanyl from Ely for the past nine months and returning to Somerset County,” the complaint said.

He said he was buying around 35 bricks of heroin every three to four days.

Burnsworth agreed to cooperate with investigators and made three controlled drug buys from Ely under the surveillance of narcotics agents, the complaint said.

The complaint said a search of two homes and an SUV linked to Ely turned up two handguns, an assault-style rifle, roughly $142,000 in cash, drug paraphernalia and an array of drugs, including eight bricks of heroin in a living room closet, 10 stamp bags of heroin on a kitchen counter, 50 bricks of heroin behind a microwave, a brick of heroin on steps to an attic and a wrapped bag of 769 grams of cocaine in the attic.

One of the controlled buys led investigators to Jaylon Brock, 32, who the complaint described as another customer of Ely’s.

The complaint said a second confidential informant made four controlled drug buys from Brock while under surveillance, leading investigators to search two homes linked to Brock — one on Barckhoff Street in Penn Hills and the other on Watt Street in the Hill District.

According to the complaint, Brock initially told investigators they would find only 20 bricks of heroin and two pounds of marijuana in the Watt Street home. Shown a photo of the drugs investigators recovered, the complaint said Brock told them, “All right, that’s it, that’s the 150. That’s all I got.”

A Sept. 1 search of the Penn Hills house turned up 41 bricks of fentanyl under a set of steps and 30 stamp bags in the attic rafters, the complaint said. Agents also found $10,600 in cash, some of which matched money the confidential informant used in controlled drug buys, the complaint said.

Each of the men faces felony charges, including multiple counts of possession with intent to deliver.

Court records did not list attorneys for any of the men as of Tuesday afternoon.