Three charged in connection with cocaine sale

MILFORD - Pike County District Attorney Douglas J. Jacobs Tuesday announced the arrest of three people today in connection with the sale of cocaine in Westfall Township. Detectives from the Pike County District Attorney’s Office and the Pennsylvania State Police on Monday charged Terrence Y. Lovelace, age 46, of Matamoras with the felony charges of delivery of a controlled substance, criminal conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, and criminal use of a communication facility. Police charged Gwynn Leigh Matthews, age 18, of Pine Island New York, with the misdemeanor charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and possession of a controlled substance. Police also charged a 17 year-old juvenile male from Montague, New Jersey, with the charges of delivery of a controlled substance, criminal conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, and possession of a controlled substance. On May 15, after a sale of cocaine was made to a Pennsylvania State Trooper by Lovelace in the Westfall Town Center, members of the Pike County Drug Task Force stopped a vehicle that was involved in the drug transaction. In the vehicle police found Matthews and the 17 year-old juvenile. A search of the vehicle located the money used to purchase the cocaine from Lovelace heroin, cocaine and marihuana. Prior to the search, Gwynn Matthews attempted to conceal the marihuana in the vehicle from police. First Assistant District Attorney Raymond J. Tonkin noted that this latest arrest confirms the trend of an increase in the distribution of drugs in the Pike County area. Additionally Tonkin commented: “The most disturbing aspect of this case is the confirmation of the trend of that juveniles and adults are involved together in the distribution of drugs.” Tonkin thanked the Westfall Township Police Department for their assistance in the arrest. Lovelace was remanded to the Pike County Correctional Facility in lieu of $ 25,000.00 bail. Gwynn Matthews was remanded to jail in lieu of $ 2,500.00 bail. The seventeen year-old juvenile was detained by the Pike County Probation Department and transported to a juvenile detention center in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania by the Pike County Sheriffs Department. Both Lovelace and Matthews will face a hearing on the charges before Magisterial District Judge Deborah Fischer at a later date. Anyone with information about persons selling drugs in Pike County is asked to call the Pike County Detective Bureau at the District Attorney’s Office at 570-296-3482. All calls will be kept confidential.