Editor's note: The rise of opioid painkillers such as oxycodone has had an unforeseen consequence, as addicts turn to heroin when pills become hard to get. Abuse of heroin has spilled across all social strata and led to an increase in overdoses nationwide. The trend has not skirted our area. Heroin has come to the Glens Falls area, attended by addiction, crime and death. A map of heroin overdoses in the Glens Falls region in 2013-14 is seen below. [continues 1584 words]
The 2011 bank robbery spree gripped the region for weeks. One after another, banks around eastern New York and western Vermont were being robbed by a man and woman who brazenly walked into them, handed tellers notes that bore threats and made off with thousands of dollars in cash. They hit a TD Bank branch in Granville twice in a matter of days, and five banks in a span of weeks. The holdups ended Nov. 2, 2011, minutes after the couple robbed a bank in nearby Poultney, Vermont. [continues 1009 words]
QUEENSBURY -- A Lake George man who police believe ran a major cocaine distribution ring was sentenced to up to 7 years in state prison Wednesday, but not before he blamed a co-defendant who received a less severe sentence. Joseph Bongiorno, 45, of McGillis Avenue had asked that Judge John Hall sentence him to a prison term that would allow inclusion in the state prison system's two main drug treatment programs. If allowed to participate in those programs, he could have been released from prison in less than a year if he completed one or both. [continues 444 words]
Officers Take Flight to Stamp Marijuana Out The undercover police car raced west on Route 8 in Bakers Mills, the officers inside knowing that every second that passed meant there was more chance the evidence had been disposed of. Minutes earlier, a State Police helicopter had hovered over the home of [redacted], looking for marijuana plants a tipster had told police were growing near woods on the east side of the home. Helicopter pilot David Bowden had radioed a "hit" -- their code for a positive sighting -- to the officers on the ground below. [continues 1238 words]
Whitehall - Felony Charge Filed Against Former Phish Leader FORT EDWARD -- A Washington County grand jury on Thursday filed a felony drug possession charge against the former frontman of the jam rock band Phish. Ernest J. "Trey" Anastasio, 42, of Richmond, Vt., was indicted on a charge of felony criminal possession of a controlled substance and lesser charges of driving under the influence of drugs and driving with a suspended license, law enforcement sources said. Grand jury proceedings are secret until the panel reports its decisions on indictments to a judge. [continues 302 words]
Washington County DA Says Charges Still A Possibility For Anastasio Washington County District Attorney Kevin Kortright said Monday he has not ruled out filing a felony drug charge against a world- renowned musician arrested Friday in Whitehall. Kortright said he wanted to review the State Police crime laboratory report on the drugs Ernest "Trey" Anastasio allegedly possessed at the time of his arrest, results of a urine sample and the rest of the evidence Whitehall Police assembled. "We're going to take a look at it all and make a decision from there," the district attorney said. [continues 390 words]
GRANVILLE -- The pictures drew collective groans from 180 or so people. They were images of those addicted to crystal meth, their faces covered with sores and their teeth rotting in their mouths. The photos were the most jarring part of a training session Monday at Granville High School designed to educate school staff on the methamphetamine epidemic that has raged in other parts of the country, and may be headed here. Granville school Superintendent Daniel Teplesky said he decided to have the school host the event as part of the district's superintendent's training day after hearing of the event's availability through BOCES. [continues 421 words]
RegionA-s Farmland Makes Growing Marijuana Easy The three people burst into the apartment with masks on, quickly overwhelming the woman inside. One held her down on a bed while the others ransacked her home. The quarry the three robbers sought at the Lake Luzerne home that warm June night was marijuana and/or the cash that was generated by its sale. They made off with a little of both, police said, and were arrested within the last few weeks. The June 8 heist was one of two home invasion robberies in the Glens Falls area that night. And when police investigate home invasion heists these days, they typically find the root of the case to be on one drug and the money it produces that draw would-be thieves: Marijuana. [continues 1321 words]
Police: Woman Tried To Smuggle Heroin Into Great Meadow FORT ANN -- A 75-year-old woman was arrested Thursday on charges she tried to smuggle heroin and $100 in cash to her son at Great Meadow Correctional Facility. Mary Weygant, of New Windsor (Orange County) was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and first-degree promoting prison contraband, both felonies, after she was caught with the drugs and money in the prison visiting area about 11:20 a.m., officials said. [continues 310 words]
