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ALTOONA -- The leader of a Blair County drug-trafficking organization was sentenced to 14 to 30 years in state prison Tuesday for operating a cocaine distribution network and supplying fentanyl that resulted in a fatal overdose, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.
Rickey "Rizz" Sharief Joyner, 45, of Altoona, pleaded guilty to two counts of corrupt organizations, 21 counts of possession with intent to deliver, two counts of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, voluntary manslaughter and related offenses.
The voluntary manslaughter conviction stems from the November 2022 overdose death of a Blair County resident. Prosecutors said Joyner supplied the victim with fentanyl while representing it as Oxycodone.
Attorney General Dave Sunday said Joyner led a Baltimore-supplied drug trafficking organization that distributed cocaine and other illegal drugs at bars and clubs throughout Blair County.
"Rickey Joyner and his criminal enterprise brought deadly drugs into the Blair County region to line their pockets by exploiting addictions," Sunday said in a statement. "This resolution takes that into account, along with the death that we could link to Joyner."
Two co-defendants also were sentenced Tuesday in Blair County Court.
Matthew Rodriguez, 40, of Altoona, received a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison after a jury convicted him of corrupt organizations, possession with intent to deliver, conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities.
Kirsten Wright, 36, of Altoona, was sentenced to two to four years in prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to deliver, conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver and criminal use of a communication facility.
According to the Attorney General's Office, investigators from the Bureau of Narcotics Investigations, Pennsylvania State Police, the Blair County Drug Task Force and the Blair County District Attorney's Office began investigating the organization in early 2023. Authorities said controlled drug purchases, search warrants, payment app records and witness testimony identified Joyner as the organization's supplier and connected him to the fatal overdose.
During the execution of a search warrant at Wright's residence in August 2024, investigators said Joyner instructed Wright to "flush everything." Authorities alleged the residence was being used as a stash house, and bags of cocaine, a cellphone containing the text message and other drug-trafficking paraphernalia were thrown from a window.
The cases were prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General David Gorman of the Attorney General's Drug Strike Force Section and Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks.