Man says he set up buy for pain killers

By Courtney Anderson
Herald Staff Writer

MERCER COUNTY July 30, 2008 11:41 pm

— One man charged by the Mercer County Drug Task force for alleged involvement in the sale of prescription pain killers testified against another at a preliminary hearing Wednesday before District Judge Ronald Antos, Farrell.
Bradley M. Difrischia, 22, of 129 Fairmont Drive, Hermitage, stipulated his case to Mercer County Common Pleas Court and then testified against Matthew S. Melhorn, 27, of 1309-1 Bend Road, Jefferson Township.
Police said Melhorn sold Oxycontin pills Feb. 13 in Hermitage through a deal set up by Difrischia.
Difrischia is charged with two counts each of possession with intent to deliver, possession of a controlled substance, conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility, according to court documents.
Melhorn is charged with possession of a controlled substance, delivery of a controlled substance and conspiracy.
Difrischia told the court that he called Melhorn to get pills for a friend who said he was “dope sick” and suffering from withdrawal because he didn’t have any. That friend was a criminal informant for the task force.
The men met in a parking lot of a North Hermitage Road business, where Difrischia gave Melhorn $100 for eight pills, Difrischia said. The criminal informant drove him there, he testified.
Melhorn’s attorney Dan Davis asked about the identity of the informant, but Assistant District Attorney Ryan Bonner objected with concerns about the informant’s safety. Antos agreed with Bonner for the purpose of the hearing, he said.
Difrischia made an immunity agreement with prosecutors in exchange for his testimony and said he was offered lesser charges, though he wasn’t sure what those were specifically and Antos denied his request to ask his lawyer, Randall Hetrick.
Davis asked Difrischia if he understood that he could do “quite a bit of time” if convicted, and Difrischia said that his lawyer, Antos and people at Mercer County Jail, where he’s being held on a probation violation, told him that.
Difrischia said he was on probation for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Police said Difrischia was also involved in delivery of five Roxicet pills March 19 in the city.
Difrischia and his father, Joseph C. Difrischia, 48, of the same address, were both charged in June.
A preliminary hearing for Joseph Difrischia originally set for Wednesday was continued to 10:30 a.m. Aug. 20 before Antos.
Police said Joseph Difrischia was involved with several sales of pain killers at his home and elsewhere in Hermitage. Police found a bottle of Roxycodone prescribed to Joseph Difrischia when they searched his home, police said.
The elder Difrischia is charged with seven counts of delivery of a controlled substance, four counts each of possession of a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility and one count of conspiracy.
Joseph Difrischia and Melhorn are free on bond, according to court documents.
Hetrick requested Difrischia’s recognizance bond be increased in this case so he could start earning credit time. Antos raised it to $5,000.