News

September 17, 2009

Drug-making charge is lodged

Robert Jacob Muntz’s lawyer denies his client is a member of a motorcycle club.

By Edward Lewis elewis@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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NANTICOKE – A man associated with the Outlaws Motorcycle Club in Ashley was charged Wednesday with manufacturing methamphetamine.

Robert Jacob Muntz, 42, of Wapwallopen, surrendered at the office of District Judge Donald Whittaker in Nanticoke, where he was charged with three counts of manufacturing a controlled substance with intent to deliver, two counts of causing or risking a catastrophe and one count of illegal possession of a firearm. He was released on $100,000 unsecured bail.

State authorities allege several members of the motorcycle club were involved in a $3.6 million cocaine trafficking ring.

Muntz was among 22 people charged on March 18 by the state Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation in Operation Avalanche, an investigation that targeted cocaine trafficking by several members of Outlaws that had its clubhouse in Ashley. The clubhouse has since been condemned by Ashley officials.

Muntz is not a member of the Outlaws, his attorney, Ferris Webby, said on Wednesday.

Authorities allegedly discovered chemicals and contraband used to manufacture methamphetamines inside 195 W. Green St., Nanticoke, where Muntz formerly resided, on March 18.

A state police clandestine drug team, wearing protective suits, searched the home and allegedly seized chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine.

Nanticoke police Detective Capt. William Shultz said the additional charges were filed against Muntz after a state police crime lab in Harrisburg finished testing the chemicals allegedly found in the home.

Shultz also said 10 firearms were removed from the West Green Street residence. Arrest records state Muntz, who was convicted of a felony, was not permitted to own or possess firearms.

Muntz’s then-residence in Nanticoke was one of four locations that were raided by undercover agents in March as a result of the investigation.

According to a 237 page criminal complaint that was filed in March:

Agents made about 30 controlled cocaine purchases from Outlaws members from July 2008 to March. Thousands of intercepted phone calls led agents to identify Anthony Manchio, of Wapwallopen, as the Outlaws’ main cocaine supplier.

John Gonda, a Luzerne County correctional officer, was among those charged in March. He was suspended with pay after he was charged, according to The Times Leader archives.

Twenty-one people charged in March are facing drug-related charges in county court.

Muntz is tentatively scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 22 on drug-related charges that were filed in March, and on the latest charges, before Whittaker.

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