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UPDATE: Heroin Involved in Case Resulting in Friday's Manhunt
Some major details have been released in relation to the investigation leading up to the arrest of Nicholas and Justin Mastroianni on Friday night.
New information has been pulled from the affidavits of probable cause in the case against Justin and Nicholas Mastroianni of Upper Providence, which resulted in the approximately six-hour-long manhunt that occurred on Friday night into Saturday morning.
Among the new findings is the fact that Justin Mastroianni, 21, had been allegedly selling heroin out of the house at 41 Orchard Court, which has now been raided twice since June.
Mastroianni and his brother (according to the affidavit) Nicholas, 22, were both arrested Friday night after a warrant was obtained by Upper Providence police. The warrant was granted after a ten-month investigation of the activity going on at the house. Justin escaped captivity on Friday night, but was later apprehended by police at Outback Steakhouse around 4 a.m. on Saturday.
The investigation, administered by Upper Providence detective Patrick Haines, began in January 2011. Included in the investigation were multiple confidential sources who aided in proving that both marijuana and heroin were being sold out of the house.
Interestingly enough, the house, owned by John Mastroianni, who shot himself but survived in the June raid, is located in a Drug Free School Zone.
From January until June the investigation entailed mobile surveillance on the activity going on inside the home, as well as random "trash pulls" from the property. Haines reported that activity inside the house would sometimes continue on throughout the evening into the early morning hours of the following day.
Then, in June, a concerned citizen called in to the drug tip hotline about John and Justin selling marijuana to teenagers from the house. It was also noted by the caller that the house at 41 Orchard Court was where the deals were administered, but 42 Orchard Court is where "the kids party and hang out" implying that teenagers may have been buying the drugs at 41 and using them at 42.
To further support the concerns by the caller, Upper Providence police were dispatched out to the house on June 3 for a "rolling domestic" between a juvenile and his/her parents. The juvenile was found to have a 0.07 Blood Alcohol Content and was taken to the hospital by the parents to administer a drug test, as they felt he/she was under the influence.
The hospital test showed marijuana and Xanax to be in the juvenile's system, leading the parents to further believe their child was given drugs and alcohol at the house. A follow-up was administered by police, but the parents never returned calls.
Finally, on June 8, a successful trash pull was administered in the early morning hours at the property. A clear trash bag was found and investigated. It was determined that all items in the bag were evidence relating to the sale of marijuana. There was no "regular household waste" in the bag.
Among the contents in the bag were a large number of plastic bags and dryer sheets with marijuana residue and labels with various types of marijuana written on them. There was also a United States Postal Service label addressed to John from a man in California, leading Haines to believe John was receiving the marijuana via USPS from California. There was also a half a gram of "high grade marijuana" in the trash bag, which was field tested positive. The bags with residue were estimated to be able to fit about a half of a pound of marijuana in each. A warrant was issued that night.
Then, on June 9 a CMERT raid occurred, which was the night John allegedly shot himself in his basement. According to reports, a neighbor told police that John said on numerous occasions, "I would never be taken alive by police." John's son Nicholas confirmed that statement, as well as notifying police that an AR-15 with over 1,000 rounds was inside the house.
During the raid at about 11:30 p.m., Justin came home and was detained. Police found a syringe in his pocket.
Investigators found a large number of evidence inside the house, including, but not limited to:
- Marijuana plants growing in the rear lower patio
- A "grow room" in the attic
- A significant amount of guns, marijuana, money and other evidence inside of a large standup gun safe in the basement
- More than 20 guns in the basement alone
- Three guns in Justin's bedroom
On June 15, the court issued a search warrant of Justin's vehicle. Upon investigation, police found 19 individual packs of heroin inside of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes, as well as the same syringe they found on Justin the night of the raid. They also found text messages on his phone indicating the sale of high grade marijuana.
On June 20, the court issued a warrant for five phones linked to the Mastroiannis. The warrant was served on June 22 and subsequently, a warrant for both Justin and Nick's arrest was issued.
Charges under the warrant include:
- Felony: Manufacturing, delivering, possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance
- Misdemeanor: Possession of a controlled or counterfeit substance
- Misdemeanor: Possession with the intent to use paraphernalia
- Felony: Criminal use of a communications facility
- Criminal Conspiracy with John Mastroianni in felony of manufacturing, delivering, possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance
The preliminary hearing is set for 10 a.m. on Oct. 18.
Given the new developments in this case, have your opinions changed?
Tell us in the comments.
Thanks. We'll email you the next time we update this story.
Darren Wolfe
1:30 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
All of this tragedy would have been avoided if drugs were legal. The war on drugs is worse than the drugs themselves.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition http://www.leap.cc/
Kevin Haslam
1:53 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Darren,
An interesting point of view if you ask me. I would like to hear some responses from the community to this. Heroin is an awful drug, causing overdoses to users daily. I simply cannot endorse having that sold legally in any capacity.
Not too mention it arguably led to the death of one of my all-time favorite musicians, Kurt Cobain :-(
Would anyone else like to comment on Darren's post? Has anyone's opinion changed since the initial reports from Saturday?
Lorraine613
1:54 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
To the above reader, are you serious? So you are promoting selling drugs to minors? You are promoting the violence and crime that goes along with drugs? This is the most insane comment.
Darren Wolfe
9:09 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Lorraine,
It is the fact that drugs are illegal that makes the trade violent. It is the advocates of continued criminalization that are bringing the violence into out communities. When alcohol was illegal there was violence associated with it. Now, no one is fighting anyone over it. It will be the same with drugs.
Annde
3:36 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
I commend the Upper Providence Police Department for their hard work in keeping our community and children safe. I can't even justify a response to Darren's post. Drugs ruin he lives of people everyday.
Darren Wolfe
9:11 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Annde,
Indeed drugs do ruin people's lives, addiction is a disease. It makes no more sense to criminalize addiction as it would making cancer illegal. Treatment is what addicts need not jail time.
Kevin Haslam
7:16 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The last post was deleted. LRSC Patch encourages reader comments, but we do have terms of agreement. Please remain on topic.
truthsayer
8:08 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
I am always discouraged when I hear people promote the decriminalization of drugs. Drug use is not a productive activity. It does not promote a healthy lifestyle, it does not make you a better person, and it does not offer a positive contribution to your life, your family's life, or to our society.
Ethics, integrity and a healthy mind and body...these are what we should be promoting for ourselves and our children. We would all reap the benefits, if we embraced those values. Otherwise, we will be a society of Mastroiannis
Darren Wolfe
9:17 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Truthsayer,
Don't ethics & integrity require us to allow people to choose their lifestyles? I agree that drugs are bad, but people have a right to make mistakes. Criminalizing a bad lifestyle makes it a burden on all of us instead of just the people engaging in it.
I would also suggest that people like the Mastroiannis are a creation of the war on drugs. Society was healthier before drugs were illegal.
Annde
11:11 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Darren,
I'm a RN, so I can agree with you that addiction is a disease and that addicts need treatment. However, if they choose not to get treatment, they should not be given free rein to do what they please regardless of what it does to our communities and children. Just as someone with cancer needs treatment, someone with the disease of addiction needs treatment. Parents have had their rights taken away for withholding medical care from their children, so I think the law/courts/government should be able to step in and stop a drug dealer/addict from harming themselves and others. I think that if we all lived in Newark or Camden, NJ, you might have a very different outlook on drugs, where the violence involved in dealing and using drugs is unbelieveable and it's amongst the dealers and users themselves, not the police. I don't believe that legalizing drugs would make that violence go away. These are mind altering substances that make people unable to control themselves and lead to poor decision making. If drugs were legal, the police would still have to be out there patroling the streets to make sure drug users don't hurt themselves and others. I mean just look at the death rates in MVA's that involve alcohol and then add on top of that people getting high on crack and heronin and going for a drive . Also, drug addicts are not productive members of socieity. They're like parasites that live off the rest of us, stealing, lying, etc. Make that legal and we're all in trouble.
Darren Wolfe
7:10 am on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Annde,
I'm going to go out on a limb here with this one. For the record I don't advocate drug use. I do believe that we need to face all the realities of it though.
It is not true that addicts can't be productive. Since you work in health care you may be ammused to find out (if you don't already know) that Dr. William Stewart Halsted was addicted to morphine while he did some of his best work:
"Halsted's skill and ingenuity as a surgeon during his years of addiction to morphine earned him national and international renown. For Lister's concept of antisepsis--- measures to kill germs in operation wounds Halsted substituted asepsis: measures to keep germs out of the wound in the first place. In this and other ways, he pioneered techniques for minimizing the damage done to delicate tissues during an operation. Precision became his surgical trademark. A British surgeon, Lord Moynihan, admiringly described the Halsted technique at the operating table as one of "frequently light, swift, sparing movements with the sharpest of knives, instead of free, heavy-handed deep cutting; of no hemorrhage or the minimum of hemorrhage instead of the severance of many vessels, each bleeding freely until clipped ." 4 For pioneering improvements such as these, Halsted became widely known as "the father of modern surgery." " http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/cu/cu5.html
As an RN you probably see the worst of the addicts while the functional ones go unnoticed.
truthsayer
1:14 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Mr. Wolfe, you are certainly entitled to your opinion regarding the legalization of certain drugs, and I won't try to change your opinion here. I would just reaffirm my belief that our society should be emphasizing a sober and healthful approach to life, rather than condoning intoxication or impairment through legally obtained intoxicants or hallucinogens. Life is better when "straight", and we are more productive as a society when we emphasize sobriety.
As for ethics and integrity, those are values that help people make the "right" choice, based on a set of moralities and mores, that is (or was) common to all beliefs and religions. Values that impact our life in a positive way, and have positive impact on those around us. The members of the Mastroianni family, as reported in this story, have no ethic or integrity. They are not suppressed entrepreneurs, looking to ply their trade in an oppressive society. They are criminals. They are not "created" by the "war on drugs". They are sociopaths, who would engage in antisocial behavior which preys on the weak and innocent, in an effort to profit from peoples' weaknesses. If the drugs they sold were legal to purchase, they would likely be engaged in some other criminal activity. I would caution people when attempting to make martyrs out of criminals, claiming they are just innocent victims of an unjust law. Most people engaged in the distribution of drugs, are sociopathic, and legalizing the drug won't change their behavior.
Darren Wolfe
6:02 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Truthsayer,
No one is condoning or encouraging drug use. Advocacy of legalization isn't advocacy of use. Actually, it is the opposite as there is evidence that legalization results in less drug use not more. You would be able to read my other post linking to articles about the Portuguese & Dutch experiences with this but for some odd reason Kevin deleted them. If this doesn't disappear I'll address some of your other points.
Joni
2:44 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Decriminalization of pot is not the answer. Take one look at the crime, violence and fraud that surrounds legal medical marijuana. Those who partake become impaired and do not make sound judgements, which can lead to further dangerous and criminal activity. And many studies have shown that addiction to hard drugs, such as heroin, meth and oxycodone are rooted in casual marijuana use. Such is the case of the Orchard Court bust, which started as pot but eventually turned into heroin. And for those who say that marijuana users are much more laid back and peaceful than alcohol users, please explain the need for the large arsenal of firearms.
I can share dozens of personal stories of friends and family whose lives have been ruined by early pot use. Lives that ended in violent deaths, suicide or complete mental and physical disability.
I live in this development and have seen what it has done to not only the residents but the property and market value. I will never support decriminalization of marijuana and think it's irresponsible to even suggest.
Darren Wolfe
6:07 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Noni,
Have you ever watched the discredited old movie Reefer Madness? Your comment sounds just like that propaganda.
The violence surounding the drug trade happens because they're Illegal. If they were legal it would be peaceful like any other commerce.
Lorraine613
5:01 am on Monday, October 17, 2011
Darren: You will not change my mind on this subject. It is NOT the fact that drugs are illegal that make it violent. Drug addicts run out of money and they will do anything and steal from anyone in order to get their next fix. This will not change. It ruins lives and kill people. There are still problems with alcohol, even though it is legal. There are fights and there are deadly accidents when someone gets behind the wheel of a car and decides to drive drunk. You cannot force someone to go into a rehab - it does not work. When people commit crimes, they belong in jail. Legalization is NOT the answer.
Darren Wolfe
6:57 am on Monday, October 17, 2011
I guess you will think what you want to think regardless of the facts. Since you mention alcohol remember that it was the prohibition that lead to gangs turf wars. No one does that now over alcohol. We don't see Epps & Park Towne Beverages shooting it out on the streets now, do we?
The evidence from overseas shows that crime drops when drugs are legal. Look at the Netherlands & Portugal.
Aware Anon
4:32 am on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Marijuana is not synonmous with heroin. And quite frankly, this boy (BOY - imagine growing up with a father that is a heroin dealer and no sustainable mother) killed himself. He saw no better choice because America's court system would have screwed him over, and when he got out he would have no chance of a good or serious career. Think of what we imprint on these kids - especially when they have NO knowledge of a better life.
Also - Mary Jane should never be compared to Heroin, and if you try, you are obviously not informed. It was legal once, and notably healthy (much more productive and less of a "drug" than alcohol).