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HANOVER TWP. — A man from Wilkes-Barre arrested in January on charges he kidnapped his estranged wife has been charged with trafficking heroin.
Township police and the Luzerne County Drug Task Force arrested Justin Ramirez, 29, also known as “Pablo,” and Alexander Joseph O’Donnell Jr., 43, also known as “AJ,” on charges they were selling heroin in the Hanover Township, Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne areas.
Authorities allegedly discovered heroin and packaging materials inside Ramirez’s residence on Scott Street in Wilkes-Barre.
According to arrest papers, Ramirez allegedly told a heroin buyer that O’Donnell is the salesman.
A heroin packet allegedly sold by O’Donnell that was analyzed was negative for heroin but positive for fentanyl, arrest papers say.
Wilkes-Barre police arrested Ramirez on Jan. 28 on charges he kidnapped his estranged wife, LaRhonda Ramirez, from a residence on Jones Street.
LaRhonda Ramirez and her cousin, Taleek Sistrunk, were at a night club and ran into Justin Ramirez’s girlfriend, who is not named in arrest papers. After they exchanged words, LaRhonda Ramirez and Sistrunk left the night club and returned to her residence where Justin Ramirez waited with a kitchen knife.
Justin Ramirez allegedly forced LaRhonda Ramirez into his vehicle and sped away.
City police arrested Justin Ramirez when he stopped on East Market Street near Public Square. LaRhonda Ramirez suffered minor injuries, city police said.
Township police charged Ramirez with six counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, four counts of criminal use of communication facility, three counts of possession of a controlled substance and a single count of criminal conspiracy. He was arraigned by District Judge Joseph Halesey in Hanover Township and jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $100,000 bail.
Ramirez is facing a preliminary hearing in March on charges of kidnapping, reckless endangerment, simple assault and terroristic threats for allegedly abducting his estranged wife. He was released from jail on Jan. 30 when he posted $35,000 on those charges, court records say.
O’Donnell, of Luzerne, was arraigned in Luzerne County Central Court on Monday on two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and one count each of possession of a controlled substance and criminal conspiracy. He was jailed for lack of $25,000 bail.