Narcotics agents say Tarentum man on parole for drug conviction arrested for selling cocaine, heroin

A Tarentum man was accused of being a drug dealer after state narcotics agents found cocaine and heroin in his SUV and at his home.

Sir John Withrow, 33, of the 100 block of Second Avenue was charged Dec. 21 with two counts of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver and conspiracy to sell drugs, which are felonies. He also was charged with two counts of misdemeanor drug possession.

Withrow was released on a $1 cash bond while awaiting a Jan. 10 preliminary hearing before District Judge Carolyn Bengel, court records show.

Police also charged Precious Beck, 30, who lives with Withrow, with felony counts of criminal conspiracy and drug possession and two counts of misdemeanor drug possession.

Beck has not yet been taken into custody, according to court records.

Members of the state Attorney General’s Municipal Drug Task Force, which includes Tarentum police officers, were doing undercover surveillance of Withrow’s home Dec. 21 when they spotted him driving an orange Hummer H3 along Wood Street and pulled him over, according to a criminal complaint.

Agents, who had a warrant to search Withrow, his vehicle and his home, said he was carrying $1,444 in cash that included marked bills previously used to buy drugs from him, the complaint said.

A backpack with 29 grams of cocaine and 250 stamp bags of heroin was found in the backseat of the Hummer, police said.

A second team of agents who raided Withrow’s home said they found two digital scales and 40 stamp bags of heroin, according to the complaint.

Investigators said the stamp bags found in the Hummer and the house had the word “orange” and a picture of the fruit printed on them.

Withrow told investigators that the drugs they found were his and that he was traveling to the North Side in Pittsburgh to buy 20 “bricks” of heroin when agents pulled him over, the complaint said.

He told police he was only selling “a little bit” so he could get back on his feet and move to Las Vegas, the complaint said.

Withrow also told police he still had three years of probation to serve from a previous drug conviction, according to the complaint.

In 2016, Withrow pleaded guilty to a felony count of illegal possession of a firearm and a count of drug possession filed by McKees Rocks police. He was sentenced to three to six years in jail and two years of probation.

Withrow also pleaded guilty in May 2011 to a pair of felony drug charges and two counts of receiving stolen property filed by Pittsburgh police and was sentenced to four to eight years in prison and five years of probation, court records show.