Man withdraws guilty plea on drug charges

WILKES-BARRE – A Kingston man who investigators say is the ring leader of a marijuana trafficking ring withdrew his guilty plea to numerous drug charges.

Robert Francis Bovolick, 28, of Sharpe Street, pleaded guilty in April to charges of corrupt organization, criminal conspiracy, possession with intent to deliver, delivery of a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility.

On Tuesday, Bovolick was scheduled to be sentenced on the charges, but instead withdrew his guilty plea through his attorney Peter Moses.

Luzerne County Court Judge Thomas Burke granted the withdrawal and returned any further proceedings in the case to magistrate court.

According to authorities, Bovolick sold large qualities of marijuana in Luzerne County beginning in 2002.

Bovolick was one of seven people charged in October in “Operation Bad News,” an investigation by the state Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation and Drug Control and Kingston police.

According to arrest records, Bovolick was employed as a clerk at his family’s business, the Anthracite Newstand, earning approximately $26,000 per year since 2005.

Arrest records say Bovolick discovered a recording device on a marijuana customer, who was working as an informant for investigators.

Bovolick had become suspicious of the customer, and then ripped off the customer’s shirt and found the recording device, according to arrest records.

After finding the device, Bovolick asked the informant what police knew about him, arrest records say. Arrest records say Bovolick purchased a Hummer H2 for $62,623 in 2004, and 10 residential properties in Kingston and Wilkes-Barre with drug proceeds.

Others charged include Eric Kovac, 26, of Jenkins Township, who was sentenced in October to one-year probation; 24-year-old Patrick Rooney, of Plains Township, who received six years probation in September.

Also sentenced in October was Christopher Roberto, of West Chester, who received one to two years in state prison for his role in the drug ring.

Justin Hart, 27, of Catawissa, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 6, and Andrew Clements, 28, of Berwick, was sentenced in July to 18 months in the Intermediate Punishment Program, with the first nine months on house arrest with an electronic monitor.