Supplier for area drug ring gets state prison term

A Lehigh County man, who authorities said supplied illegal drugs to a drug ring operating in Carbon County, was sentenced to serve a state prison term of 5 to 10 years on Monday in the county court.

Edilberto Ortiz Jr., 33, of Allentown, was sentenced to the term by Judge Steven R. Serfass, who said the defendants’ actions “had an awful affect on our community, young people and adults.” Serfass added he had to consider the gravity of the crime and its overall effect on the community in deciding a sentence to hand down.

The prison term was imposed on charges of corrupt organization, criminal conspiracy — possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance — methamphetamine.

Ortiz was charged by the state Attorney General’s office with providing methamphetamine for a drug operation in the county. Ortiz and those who sold the drugs were all arrested in a roundup in 2016.

He appeared before Serfass late last year to enter a plea but instead withdrew the plea and asked for a new attorney and said he wanted to go to trial. He later changed his mind and entered a guilty plea.

He has been an inmate in the Lehigh County prison for almost two years where he is facing a parole/probation violation charge. Before yesterday’s sentencing there were at least 15 continuances filed in the Carbon County case.

According to criminal complaints filed by the AG office in support of the charges, investigators identified Ortiz as a main distributor who supplied six people with methamphetamine. Those people later redistributed the drugs to their customers.

Officials said the activity occurred between January and March of 2016.

Investigators used confidential informants for controlled purchases of methamphetamine over the course of the investigation.

More than 4 pounds of methamphetamine were seized from a residence where Ortiz was staying, investigators reported in a criminal complaint.

That search also resulted in the seizure of a .32-caliber handgun, roughly $2,400 and drug paraphernalia.

Searches of other residences resulted in the seizure of various quantities of methamphetamine, cash, digital scales and drug paraphernalia.

Arrested with Ortiz were Susan Rex, 52, of Nesquehoning; Holly Ann Eckhart, 50, of Palmerton; Richard E. Moyer, 57, of Lehighton; Robert David Rex, 58, of Lansford; Connie Serfass, 60, of Lehighton; and Donna Marie Ziegenfuss, 54, of Palmerton.

All of the defendants have already entered pleas and have since been sentenced, except for Eckhart, who has pleaded guilty but is still awaiting sentencing.

Ortiz told Serfass he realized the “ripple effect” of what he did on the his family and the community. He said he never “wants to be involved in it again.”

In addition to the prison term Serfass ordered Ortiz to get both drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations and follow any recommendations for treatment, supply a DNA sample and pay court costs of about $1,000.

He as given no credit against his sentence because the time being served in Lehigh will be credited to the charges pending in that county.