Man arrested in alleged cocaine operation
By STACY WOLFORD
swolford@yourmvi.com
An Elizabeth Township man is wanted on charges he has been selling large volumes of cocaine from the basement of his residence for the past decade.
A warrant was issued Friday for Tracey V. “Utch” Gedekoh, 53, of Greenock Buena Vista Road on drug charges following an investigation by Officer Dan Novacek and his partner, K-9 Eli, into illegal drug activity in the township.
Armed with a search warrant, Novacek and Eli went to Gedekoh’s residence at 12:36 p.m. Thursday. The home’s owner, Donna Priselac, told police she and Gedekoh have lived together the past 20 years.
She claimed that over the past few years, Gedekoh has stayed in the basement by himself and hasn’t had a job in 10 years as his primary source of income has been from selling cocaine, according to the criminal complaint.
Priselac, who was not charged, told Novacek she would see numerous people coming in and out of the basement at night and that Gedekoh supplies her with cocaine for her personal use while giving her about $1,000 cash each month, the complaint states.
Novacek, a drug task force officer with the state Attorney General’s office, said that during the search, he and Eli found 5.4 ounces of suspected cocaine with a street value of $15,000 in the basement. They also discovered more than 100 baggie “diapers” inside a trash can, he added.
According to the complaint, a baggie diaper is what is left over after the cocaine is packaged. The cocaine is measured or weighed, dumped into a baggie and then shifted into the corner of the baggie. When both corners of the baggie are used, it creates a “baggie diaper.”
“With this many baggie diapers, it would have made hundreds of individual baggies of cocaine,” Novacek states in the complaint.
Novacek claims numerous other pieces of drug paraphernalia were discovered in the basement, saying a kilo wrapper was also found in the trash. A kilo contains 35.27 ounces of cocaine.
An unlocked Springfield Armory rifle was allegedly found in an upstairs bedroom. Gedekoh has a felony drug conviction from October 1996, making it illegal for him to own or possess a firearm.
Inside the garage was a black 2010 Chevrolet Camaro and two Harley Davidson motorcycles with a combined estimated street value of $35,000, all registered and owned by Gedekoh. According to the complaint, all three vehicles are paid off despite no proof Gedekoh has a source of income.
Gedekoh is charged with felony counts of dealing in the proceeds of illegal activity, person not to possess, use, manufacture firearms and possession with intent to deliver as well as misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and prohibited acts. Novacek filed the charges Friday at the office of Magisterial District Judge Beth Mills in Forward Township.
Stacy Wolford is managing editor at the Mon Valley Independent.
