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Pocono News Section
A Monroe County Inn Was A Drug Haven
A Monroe County Inn Was A Drug Haven - Wednesday, January 2, 2008 at 5:52PM EST
Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Wednesday, Jan 2, 2008 @05:52pm EST
MOUNTAINHOME, MONROE COUNTY- It's supposed to house travelers. Instead, police said it housed drug dealers and drug users. The manager of an inn in the Poconos was in court on Wednesday.
You could drive right by the country side inn along Route 715 in Henryville and never notice it. But over the past few months investigators have looked past the cozy facade of Amanda's Inn - into an alleged drug den.
Michael Pinkett owns Amanda's Inn. He explained "At this time I just have to listen to the testimony and find out what's going on."
He lives in New Jersey while his brother Allen managed the place. On December 19th police conducted a drug raid. They arrested Allen and confiscated 50-thousand-dollars worth of drugs and several thousand dollars in cash. Police said they found drugs all over this place. In the bar, the hotel rooms, bath rooms, under floor boards, and even in hidden compartments of plastic soda bottles.
Allen waived his right to preliminary hearing in Mountainhome Wednesday. That means he will face trail on the charges. Allen had nothing to say to us and Michael said it's too early to judge anyone. "I hope he comes through this unscathed."
Allen's Defense attorney, Thomas Sundmaker, told us just because his client managed a hotel where drugs were found doesn't mean he knew about anything illegal. He continued "My understanding is that there's never been any disturbance at that establishment. It's not one of those trouble bars as they call it."
But the District Attorney's Office believes it has enough evidence to prosecute this case and will pursue similar cases.
Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Mike Rakacewski explained "The Monroe County Drug Task Force did an excellent job and I think we'll see a lot more of this type of police and law enforcement activity."
Allen Pinkett is out on more than 200-thousand-dollars bail. Amanda's Inn remains open. | | |
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