Hawleyville Couple Arrested On Multiple Drug Charges

By Andrew Gorosko

Following an undercover narcotics investigation, state police have arrested a local couple on multiple drug charges after having found more than $131,000 in cash and more than $42,000 in street-value prescription painkillers in their Hawleyville mobile home.

On the morning of February 28, state police arrested on warrants Eric Channey, 50, and his wife, Harriet Channey, 49, of 160 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6) on ten drug charges each. The Channeys live at a mobile home complex known as Midway Trailer Park.

State police arrested the Channeys on ten drug charges each: possession of narcotics, criminal liability for possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, criminal liability for possession of narcotics with intent to sell, conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to sell, possession of controlled substances, possession of controlled substances with intent to sell, criminal liability for possession of controlled substances, criminal liability for possession of controlled substances with intent to sell, and failure to keep narcotics in their original container. Eight of the ten charges are felonies.

The Channeys were arraigned on the drug charges on February 28 in Danbury Superior Court, after which they were released on bail for March 7 court appearances.

On March 7, each defendant pleaded not guilty to each of the ten charges against them. They are next scheduled to appear in court on March 19.  

Also, the Channeys were arrested by state police on warrants last November 3, with each person charged with sale of narcotics and with conspiracy to sell narcotics. Each has pleaded not guilty to those two charges. Both charges are felonies.

Eric Channey is represented by attorney Raymond Lubus; Harriet Channey is represented by attorney Peter Buzaid.

According to arrest documents on file at court, the state police’s Statewide Narcotics Task Force made the February 28 arrests against the Channeys in connection with an ongoing probe into the illegal sale of drugs, mainly OxyContin and oxycodone, in the Newtown area. Both drugs are prescription painkillers.

At 11 am last November 3, members of the police task force gathered to perform a search of the Channeys’ mobile home. After knocking on the door, the investigators were greeted by the Channeys.

The state police told the couple that they had a search warrant for the premises. The police also said that they had arrest warrants for each of the Channeys stemming from an incident in October in which the Channeys allegedly made an illegal drug sale at their trailer to a person acting as a cooperating witness on behalf of the task force.

State police then searched the trailer in seeking evidence for their investigation into the Channeys’ alleged illicit drug sales.

In that search, the investigators seized more than $131,000 in cash and also seized a large amount of OxyContin and oxycodone tablets, which have a street value of more than $42,000, according to the court papers.

Neither of the Channeys indicated that they were employed for a living, according to the documents.

Also, the November 3 search of the premises uncovered marked currency that the cooperating witness had used to make the drug purchase from the Channeys in October, according to the court papers.

“When they were asked why they had so much money in the house and not in the bank, Eric Channey responded with saying that the money was not from selling pills but from a lawsuit. When asked why they had so many pills, they stopped answering questions and said they wanted to speak with an attorney. All questioning then ceased,” according to the arrest warrant affidavits.

According to the court documents, because cash was located in a safe along with prescription medications, police believe that the medications were intended for illegal sale and the adjacent cash was the proceeds from drug sales.

Keeping numerous bottles of prescription medications in a safe is not a common way to store medications, especially in a residence without children, according to police.

In the court papers, police state that they found 515 30-milligram oxycodone tablets, with 60 of those tablets not in their original containers. Also, police found 622 80-milligram OxyContin tablets, with 159 of those pills not in their original containers. The search also turned up 522 0.5-milligram alprazolam tablets, with 239 of those pills not in their original containers, according the court documents. Alprazolam is a sedative.

Also, the police search uncovered nine fentanyl transdermal patches that were not in their original containers. Fentanyl is a pain killer.

“Those medications were being stockpiled for sale,” police said in the documents.

Drug traffickers tend to keep old prescription bottles on hand to store drugs that they intend to sell in seeking to make those drugs appear to be legitimate, according to police.

The street value of the OxyContin and oxycodone seized in the search exceeds $42,000, police said, noting that the two drugs are highly sought by narcotics abusers.

November Arrests

Arrest warrant affidavits on file at court describe the state police investigation that led to the Channeys’ initial drug arrests on November 3.

In late September, the task force had learned from a confidential informant that the Channeys sold illegal prescription narcotics at their trailer, according to the court papers. The task force had received similar information in the past from two other informants, the court papers add.

A cooperating witness agreed to wear an electronic device to make an audio recording of an October drug transaction at the Channeys’ house trailer. That person also agreed to testify in court in a prosecution against the Channeys, according to the court documents.

It was the evidence gathered during that October drug sale that resulted in state police obtaining the initial arrest warrants that they then served against the Channeys on November 3.

November 3 also was the day on which state police searched the house trailer for evidence, resulting in the February 28 arrests of the Channeys on ten charges each.