Waynesboro man guilty of leading heroin trafficking ring in Franklin Co.

Amber South
Chambersburg Public Opinion

CHAMBERSBURG - A Franklin County jury on Thursday convicted a Waynesboro man of operating a heroin trafficking ring in Franklin County. 

Charles Lynch III, 30, was found guilty of six of the seven counts against him at the end of a four-day trial this week: possession with intent to distribute, conspiracy of possession with intent to distribute, operating a corrupt organization, conspiring with others in the operation of a corrupt organization, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity and criminal use of a communication device, according to court records. All are felonies. 

The jury did not convict Lynch of drug delivery resulting in death. That charge was connected to the death of Mark Charles Keefer, a Chambersburg man who overdosed on heroin and died at the age of 47 on Nov. 5, 2016. Police had alleged Keefer obtained the heroin that killed him through the drug-trafficking organization Lynch led. 

Charles Lynch

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Four other people were also charged in the case, with similar or related crimes. 

Through an investigation that involved surveillance, controlled drug buys, contact with confidential informants, the use of tracking devices, cell phone analysis and other methods, authorities determined Lynch led the group in an operation that involved the purchase of large quantities of heroin in Philadelphia and distribution of that heroin in Franklin County. 

Court records show that the prosecution's evidence included several expert witnesses, text messages, audio recordings, the autopsy and coroner's report for Keefer, and other materials. 

Neither the Franklin County district attorney or Lynch's attorney responded to requests for comment Friday afternoon. 

How the organization worked

Lynch, along with a woman whom police identified as his girlfriend, made weekly trips to Philadelphia to buy heroin, police said. They would then store the drugs in a safe in their home in Fayetteville. Each trip produced about an average of $20,000 in heroin, when sold at street value, police said. 

Lynch would give a quantity of the drug to two other people police allege were involved. Those two would sell it around the county, then give the proceeds to Lynch. Once enough money was accumulated, Lynch would return to Philadelphia and do it all over again. 

The operation changed after Lynch was arrested in November 2015 in Ohio for possession with intent to deliver heroin. One of the two people whom police say sold the heroin locally was also arrested around the same time. 

Lynch was in Franklin County Jail, but continued directing the operation from there by phone. His girlfriend continued making regular trips to Philadelphia, accompanied by the other man who had been responsible for selling the drug. That man continued as a seller, and his wife joined him, police said. 

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It all came to halt on Dec. 2, 2016, when police intercepted Lynch's girlfriend and the man as they were returning from Philadelphia. By the spring of the 2017, police had charged Lynch and four others. 

Lynch also charged in previous overdose death

While acquitted of the charge connected to Keefer's fatal overdose, Lynch is accused of providing the heroin that led to another man's death in 2015. 

Lynch was charged this summer with death by drug delivery in connection with the fatal overdose of 21-year-old Rudy Barbour, Chambersburg, on Sept. 7, 2015. He was also charged with possession with intent to distribute. 

This case is making its way through the court system. 

In another case, Lynch was found not guilty of possession with intent to manufacture or deliver and criminal use of a communication device in November 2017. Police accused of him of committing that crime in June 2014. 

Other defendants

Half of the other four people whom authorities said were involved in Lynch's drug-trafficking operation have pleaded guilty in the case. 

Kevin and Kelly Paul both pleaded guilty to operating a corrupt organization. Kevin - part of the original pair of sellers, whom police said started traveling to Philadelphia with Lynch's girlfriend after Lynch's arrest - was sentenced to a minimum of 18 months in July 2017, with credit for about six months already served. He was serving that sentence concurrently with a similar sentence connected to a guilty plea in his December 2016 arrest. Kelly, who started working with Kevin to sell the heroin after Lynch's arrest, was sentenced to nine months in county jail (with credit for four months already served) followed by 51 months of standard supervision.

Susan Hollabaugh, the woman police called Lynch's girlfriend, is still awaiting trial in two cases, one connected to her role in the organization and the other to her December 2016 arrest, court records show. 

Richard Danzberger - the man who was arrested around the same time as Lynch and whom police alleged was one of the original two sellers, along with Kevin Paul - is still awaiting trial in his two cases. 

The fifth person charged in the case, Brandi Bechtel, is still making her way through the court system. 

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