The state Attorney General’s Office has charged a Beaver County man with running a multi-county drug organization in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Korrtezz M. Martin, 34, of Rochester, was charged with racketeering, conspiracy, firearms violations, and several counts of narcotics possession, manufacture, and delivery in connection with an illicit drug network that operated from April 2023 to August 2024.
A state grand jury heard testimony that Martin allegedly orchestrated a fentanyl, cocaine, and crack distribution network in Beaver, Allegheny, and Washington counties. According to prosecutors, Martin built a network of people to help him obtain, store, and sell drugs.
According to court filings, police performed in-person and electronic surveillance, reviewed recorded jail phone calls, and built the case using evidence obtained from informants, traffic stops, and search warrants.
According to court records, police arranged for informants to contact Martin and his network of contacts, whom they had identified as drug runners or payment collectors, 16 times.
In the spring and summer of 2023, police also performed traffic stops on people who visited Martin’s house for a few minutes before leaving. Each time, they discovered drugs that the drivers claimed they had recently purchased from Martin.
Martin was detained in April 2024, and a subsequent search of the car he was driving turned up 951 tablets containing fentanyl and xylazine, according to court records. Martin’s phone records, together with other monitored phone calls and text messages, revealed hundreds of talks regarding drug transactions, prices, delivery places, and monetary amounts.
According to investigators, many of the drug transactions were carried out via the CashApp phone app, which Martin used on a regular basis until it was shut down in June 2023. Martin then employed other individuals in his network to collect payments, according to criminal documents.
Cash App records indicate that others accused as part of the network got more than $70,000 in drug payments.
Martin faces 18 felony counts out of a total of 25 accusations stemming from the alleged narcotics plot.
Martin and those accused by the attorney general of conspiracy are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 15 in Judge Edward Howe’s Freedom Court:
• Chelsea L. Durr, 33, of Beaver Falls
• Daphne Scott, 53, of Beaver Falls
• Katrina M. Balser, 35, of Industry
• Jack D. Balser, 32, of Industry
• Victoria L. Jones, 31, of Pittsburgh
• Michael R. Motton, 34, of Ambridge
• Edward A. Reynolds, 33, of Pittsburgh
• Tyler C. McQuaid, 36, of Ambridge
All face charges of racketeering, conspiracy, criminal use of a phone, and various counts of drug possession or delivery.
