PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A former resident of Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced on July 31, 2024, to 210  months of incarceration on his conviction for a series of pharmacy robberies throughout Western  Pennsylvania and distribution of the narcotics from those robberies, United States Attorney Eric G.  Olshan announced today.  

In March, following a four-day trial before Senior United States District Judge Arthur J.  Schwab, a Pittsburgh jury found Abdulrahman Abdelaziz Jamea, 26, guilty of seven crimes: one  count each of conspiracy to commit armed pharmacy robbery and conspiracy to possess with the  intent to distribute controlled substances, three counts of armed pharmacy robbery, and two counts  of pharmacy robbery.  

Evidence introduced during the trial established that Jamea participated in a conspiracy to  rob pharmacies of Schedule II controlled substances—that is, highly addictive opioids and  stimulants—between September 2018 and July 2019. This conspiracy included the robberies of  pharmacies in Beaver, Bridgeville, Edinboro, Erie, and the Oakland area of Pittsburgh. During three  of the robberies, Jamea and his co-conspirators brandished a firearm to threaten the lives of  pharmacists and pharmacy technicians and to intimidate them into opening the locked safes where  the controlled substances were kept. Evidence also established that Jamea returned to the Columbus  area to sell these stolen drugs to both prescription drug abusers and other traffickers.  

“Jamea’s armed robbery spree across western Pennsylvania risked the lives of pharmacy  employees and ordinary civilians who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time—all so  he and his co-conspirators could steal dangerous drugs and later sell them on the street,” said U.S.  Attorney Olshan. “This sentencing reflects both the serious and violent nature of these robberies,  which have no place in this district or anywhere. Our office is grateful as always for the exceptional  work of our law enforcement partners and for the resolve of the victims during the course of this  important prosecution.”  

In imposing sentence, Judge Schwab specifically noted Jamea’s use of a silver handgun to  threaten employees at a pharmacy in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, while a co-conspirator stole thousands  of Schedule II controlled substances such as opioids and amphetamines from the store’s safe.  

Jamea is currently serving a separate sentence of more than 40 years following a conviction  in Ohio for eight counts of felonious assault with a firearm. Judge Schwab ordered that the 210- month sentence in this case be served consecutively to Jamea’s term of imprisonment in Ohio. 

Assistant United States Attorneys Barbara K. Doolittle and Michael R. Ball prosecuted this  case on behalf of the United States.  

United States Attorney Olshan commended the Drug Enforcement Administration,  Pennsylvania State Police, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Erie Police Department, Edinboro Police  Department, Beaver Police Department, Bridgeville Police Department, and Ohio Highway Patrol for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Jamea. 

FILE – Chester County, Pa., election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots at West Chester University in West Chester, Pa., Nov. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A technical requirement that Pennsylvania voters write accurate dates on the exterior envelope of mail-in ballots was again the subject of a court proceeding on Thursday as advocates argued the mandate unfairly leads to otherwise valid votes being thrown out.

A five-judge Commonwealth Court panel heard about two hours of argument in a case that was filed in May, even though the date requirement has been upheld both by the state Supreme Court and the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case was brought by the Black Political Empowerment Project, Common Cause and allied advocacy groups against the secretary of state and the elections boards in Philadelphia and Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh. They argued that enforcing the date requirement infringes upon voting rights and that none of the prior cases on the topic directly ruled whether it runs afoul of the state constitution’s Free and Equal Elections Clause.

The number of potentially invalid ballots at stake is a small fraction of the electorate, in the range of 10,000 or more across Pennsylvania in prior elections, and those voters tend to be comparatively older. Democrats have embraced voting by mail much more than Republicans since it was widely expanded in Pennsylvania in 2019 — months before the COVID-19 pandemic — as part of a legislative deal in which Democrats got universal mail-in voting while GOP lawmakers obtained an end to straight-ticket voting by party.

More than a third of ballots cast in this year’s state primary election were by mail, according to the lawsuit.

Judge Patricia McCullough, a Republican on the panel, asked what authority Commonwealth Court has over the legislatively enacted rule.

“Can this court just come in and change the law because it wasn’t the best thing they should have written or we don’t think it has a purpose? Is that a grounds for us to change or declare something to be invalid?” she asked.

John M. Gore, a lawyer for the state and national Republican Party groups that are fighting the lawsuit, said the court would only have grounds to do so if the procedure was “so difficult as to deny the franchise.” He argued to the judges that the dating requirement is not so onerous that it denies people the right to vote.

The dates serve as a backstop, Gore said, providing evidence about when ballots were completed and submitted. The mandate also “drives home the solemnity of the voter’s choice” to vote by mail, and could help deter and detect fraud, he said.

County elections officials say they do not use the handwritten envelope dates to determine whether mail-in votes have been submitted in time. Mail-in ballots are generally postmarked, elections officials process and time-stamp them, and the presence of the ballots themselves is enough evidence to show that they arrived on time to be counted before the 8 p.m. Election Day deadline.

Among the issues before the court panel is whether throwing out a portion of the 2019 voting law would trigger a provision under which the entire law must also be thrown out.

Mail-in ballots, and the dating requirement in particular, have spawned several legal cases in Pennsylvania in recent years. Earlier this year, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the mandate for accurate, handwritten dates, overturning a district judge’s decision.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled two years ago that mail-in votes may not count if they are “contained in undated or incorrectly dated outer envelopes.” The justices had split 3-3 on whether making the envelope dates mandatory under state law would violate provisions of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states that immaterial errors or omissions should not be used to prevent voting.

During the April primary, redesigned exterior envelopes reduced the rate of rejected ballots, according to state elections officials.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing single-lane restrictions on Route 4037 (Barclay Hill Road) in Industry Borough, Beaver County will occur Monday through Friday, August 5-9 weather permitting.

Single-lane alternating traffic restrictions on Barclay Hill Road between Route 68 (Beaver-Midland Road) and Doyle Drive will occur daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Crews from Armstrong Drilling will conduct survey work along the roadway.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published August 2, 2024 2:51 P.M.

(Hopewell Township, Pa) Parks and Recreation Director Brad Batchelor announced Friday morning that the upper and lower parking lots, the playground, the bathrooms of the Hopewell Park were affected by flooding. He  added that the power is also out at the park due to the heavy rains.

(Beaver, Pa) The historic, beloved Beaver Supermarket – the oldest and last independent such market in the county – will continue to serve the heart of the Beaver Area community under new, second-generation family ownership. Kevin Camp, who acquired the business from Mark Ondrusek in July, is the son of the late Willie Camp who owned the market as “Valu King” in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Located in the center of Beaver’s heavily traveled Third Street business district, Beaver Supermarket will retain its 50 employees, many of whom have an unheard-of 20 to 25 years of experience. It will maintain its base of a wide variety of meats, produce, dairy foods and dry goods in a small, friendly atmosphere with affordable prices. Camp has plans to expand social media platforms to educate customers about what’s available in supply and to pass along updates from wholesalers.

“It’s vital to the community to have a locally owned super market,” Camp said. “We have so many senior citizens who rely on a local store because they can’t always travel to the bigger stores which can be too big and confusing to navigate. The store has been part of the fabric of the town for such a long time and is known for doing all the little things that help people. I could never imagine Beaver without it.”

Camp said that not much will change from what customers have come to expect. Among his priorities are to make sure aisles are easy to navigate and that the equipment and shelving are up-to-date as possible. Otherwise, he said, “the store will always have the same feel as it always has.”

Local realtor Edwards McLaughlin of Bovard Anderson Company, who was involved with the ownership transfer, said that “This is so upbeat and positive for our community. I hope we all know how fortunate we are to have the market and that we can actively support Kevin in his continuation of a valuable local asset.”

Camp’s father Willie bought the original Beaver Supermarket from founder Abe Farkas in 1978 and operated it for a decade until 1988. Willie often brought his young son to work. Remembers Kevin:

I grew up in the business, I can remember as a child of about age five coming to the store.  My mother would dress me up in a blue suit, and it was off to work with my Dad.  He would have me do miscellaneous tasks on the sales floor, such as cleaning or straightening out product on the shelves or tidying up in the office.  Getting to spend that time with him and seeing him talk with customers and make them laugh. He taught me a lot for all those years, and the important thing was that the business is always about people, customers, employees, and the community, E and if we make sure we take care of them the business will come.  He also taught me all the business acumen as well.  He passed away in October of 2017, but all his wisdom, knowledge and passion for the grocery business still goes on.

During the Covid-19 epidemic, under Ondrusek’s leadership, the store delivered groceries to the homebound who could no longer shop by themselves and had no one else to whom to turn. The personal deliveries made sure these at-risk individuals received proper nutrition in the effort to stay healthy. The market quietly has helped support the police, fire and other first responders, schools, sports teams, and a host of non-profit organizations. Curbside pickups are a staple of delivery alternatives, with orders available the same day if placed before noon.