by Geoff Fox
The manager of the Hancock Super 8 Motel has been arrested and charged with using the motel’s rooms to run a drug distribution operation. Two other Pennsylvania men were charged in the operation.
The three were arrested in connection with a four-month long undercover operation conducted by Hancock Police and Washington County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, August 19.
According to a release from the Hancock Police Department, local officers, along with deputies of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office executed an arrest warrant on the manager of the Super 8 Motel located at 118 Limestone Road in Hancock.
Leia Whalen, 43, of Hancock, was arrested on two counts of distribution of methamphetamine and two counts of possession of methamphetamine.
The four-month investigation utilized members of the Washington County Narcotics Task Force in undercover investigation in which the Task Force identified Whalen as the person utilizing motel rooms to meet people to distribute crystal meth.
According to online court documents, Whalen is charged with CDS distributing narcotics; possession, not marijuana; possession of paraphernalia; distributing narcotics; possession, not marijuana; and possession of paraphernalia. Each charge came from incidents between May 4 and June 11.
Whalen was released from Washington County Detention Center on recognizance on August 21.
Whalen is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on September 16 in Washington County District Court.
Also arrested earlier in the undercover operation were Taryn Brothers, 31, of Warfordsburg, and Michael Golden, 31, of McConnellsburg.
Police said Brothers was released from custody on a $3,000 bond and is awaiting trial.
Golden is being held without bond at the Washington County Detention Center.