OFF THE WIRE
Bob Stiles
pittsburghlive.com
David Greece is a likeable guy, a Greensburg Salem School District employee who rubbed shoulders with Westmoreland County community leaders, Average Joes and even police, said neighbors and others who know him.
But authorities said there was another side to Greece, 53, of 311 Twin Lakes Road, Unity. Behind the "nice guy" persona was a major drug trafficker who carried large amounts of cocaine in a thermos and associated with a biker gang.
"He was popular in the county, known in the county," county Detective Tony Marcocci said Friday.
Greece, a maintenance employee for Greensburg Salem; his wife, Paula J., 53; and Patricia L. Tuscano, 32, of 112 Tomato Farm Road, Unity, were charged Thursday with conspiracy and drug-distribution and possession charges after a year-long investigation involving state police at Greensburg, county detectives and Greensburg police.
Investigators said Greece ran the drug-distribution group, dispersing Colombian cocaine to mid-level street dealers for sale. They declined to say how Greece allegedly obtained the drugs.
Police said they had no evidence of Greece selling drugs to Greensburg Salem students.
"He was a major drug dealer," said Marcocci, one of the arresting officers. "He supplied various parts of Westmoreland County ... mostly in the Greensburg area."
Authorities seized 2.2 pounds of cocaine, about $135,000 and 42 firearms — many were loaded and some were assault rifles — during searches Thursday at the Greece and Tuscano homes. Three vehicles — a BMW, a Cadillac Escalade and a Chevrolet pickup — were confiscated. Police also seized a John Deere front loader, two lawn tractors, two motorized scooters, four Polaris ATVs, three snowmobiles, two snowmobile trailers and two motorcycles, including a Harley-Davidson Road King.
Yesterday, police were in the process of freezing the suspects' bank accounts. One account had a balance of more than $90,000.
Authorities said they have suspected David Greece of drug trafficking for at least three years, but they were unable to build a case against him until recently. Trooper Steve Limani, state police spokesman, said some recent drug arrests helped in the investigation. He declined to elaborate.
"We heard rumors for years," said Greensburg police Chief Walter "Wally" Lyons, "but we had no evidence to substantiate what we were hearing until this investigation began."
Marcocci said informants knew of Greece but were afraid of him.
"Everybody told me ... a lot of people were afraid of him because of the weapons," he said. "I don't know if he made it known (he had weapons), but people knew."
Because of the weapons, a heavily armed state police Special Emergency Response Team went to Greece's home Thursday for the search, Limani said. He wasn't home, but Paula Greece was in the driveway when police arrived. She was carrying a loaded handgun, more than $2,000 and an unspecified amount of cocaine, according to court papers. She was arrested, and her husband and Tuscano were taken into custody in unspecified locations at about the same time.
When police arrived at Tuscano's home nearby to search for bank records, photographs and other documents, they discovered suspected cocaine, investigators said.
"This item was discovered in a small canvas bag that was on the washer that is located in the hallway of the residence by the main door," states a search warrant affidavit.
At least two other search warrants involved in the investigation have been sealed from public view.
Greece and his wife moved into their well-maintained, middle-class home in a rural area. Police believe he spent some of his drug profits on the expensive vehicles parked there.
Greece and Tuscano's activities had been monitored for some time, court papers show.
"Surveillance had observed Tuscano and Greece meeting on numerous occasions, either at the Tuscano residence or the Greece residence," states an arrest warrant affidavit. "On one occasion, surveillance observed Greece carrying a large thermos in which, informants have advised (police), Greece kept his cocaine."
A thermos containing "a large quantity of cocaine" was seized at Tuscano's home, according to court papers.
Officers confiscated about $15,000 from a safe at the Greece residence, along with Inositol, a drug used to dilute cocaine, according to court papers.
Law enforcement sources said Greece knew members of the Pagans motorcycle gang, but he was not a member. They wouldn't elaborate on the connections.
Greensburg Salem Superintendent Tom Yarabinetz said Greece has been indefinitely suspended without pay. He was hired as a custodian in 1979, then worked out of the district's maintenance shed at Offutt Field.
"We were dismayed, obviously, that an employee would be involved in something like that," Yarabinetz said. "It was shocking."
He described Greece as a personable, likeable man who gave no indication he was involved in alleged drug dealing.
Neighbor Patricia King said she often saw David Greece jogging and his wife driving past in a pickup. The couple have two adult daughters.
"They were very friendly," King said. "We talked. They were nice. I never thought anything like that was going on up there."
David Greece grew up in Greensburg and graduated from Greensburg Salem High School in the 1970s. He and Paula J. Redding were married in 1976.
Tuscano, who grew up in the Bovard area, graduated from Greater Latrobe High School in 1998. Her brother, David Ness Jr., 33, of Greensburg, was among 14 people arrested in December by the county drug task force after a six-month investigation.
"It's shocking, and it's sad," said Trudy Ivory, school board president, who graduated from Greensburg Salem a few years before Greece. "I'm sorry (that) for whatever reason he got caught up in what he did and made the choices he did."
Read more: 2 sides of Greensburg Salem School District employee emerge - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_720415.html#ixzz1CRnXs9lj
