Joseph Phillips

Bail was set at $100,000. The Phillips’s next court appearance is at central court on February 21.

On Friday, February 9, the Pennsylvania State Police was dispatched to execute a search warrant on 1547 Easton Turnpike, Lake Ariel, PA. On two separate occasions an informant provided evidence that Phillips was distributing methamphetamine from his household.

Upon arrival on the scene, three additional individuals, Ashley Brown, Donald Lamberton and Carol Defelice, were located inside the home and detained based on each having active arrest warrants out in Wayne and Pike County.

Multiple items found during the search warrant were seized as evidence. During Phillips’ interview with troopers, he said that he flushed approximately one-quarter ounce of methamphetamine down his toilet before troopers took him into custody.

The filing of criminal charges is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the Commonwealth against a defendant. A charged Defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the Commonwealth has proven the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or until the defendant enters a guilty plea to the charges.