Another dealer in an area drug ring pleads guilty. Here's why

An Osceola Mills man involved in a family cocaine ring pleaded guilty Tuesday in Clearfield County Court. Leroy Philip Bryant, 58, is one of five people charged in a drug ring that operated in Houtzdale, Philipsburg and Madera.

“This drug ring was selling more than $10,000 of cocaine a month – pumping their poison into Clearfield and surrounding communities,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a previous press release about the case.

Bryant’s nephew, Todd Anderson, was reportedly the ring leader of the group that also included his wife, Catherine Anderson, brother-in-law Robert Gavlak, and his mother-in-law Pamela Gavlak. Bryant pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, criminal conspiracy and criminal use of communication facility; all felony charges.

Judge Fredric J. Ammerman sentenced him to a total of eight to 16 years in state prison. In March, Todd Anderson pleaded guilty and was given the same sentence.

Robert Gavlak who reportedly agreed to testify against his mother, pleaded guilty in April when he was given a county jail sentence of 11½ months to two years less one day with five years consecutive probation.

According to the findings of a grand jury, Todd Anderson obtained two ounces of cocaine two or three times a month from a contact in Beaver Falls starting in 2014. Numerous controlled purchases of cocaine were arranged by a confidential informant. This informant was allegedly able to buy the drug from Todd Anderson, Robert Gavlak, Catherine Anderson and Bryant.

These controlled purchases began in July 2016 and ended in March 2017, according to court documents. After a search warrant was executed on a Houtzdale residence, investigators found 28 grams of cocaine, over $2,700 in cash and checks that included money used by the informant to buy cocaine, an “owe sheet” listing people who owed Todd Anderson money, several cell phones, and drug paraphernalia, according to information given to the grand jury.

Bryant’s apartment in Philipsburg was also the subject of a search warrant in June 2017 when agents allegedly found 46 grams of cocaine, a scale and baggies. He told them his source of cocaine was Todd Anderson, police said.

This story was originally published June 13, 2018 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Another dealer in an area drug ring pleads guilty. Here's why."