Bucks Co. Meth Lab Ringleader, 72, Could Serve 20 Years: DA

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The leader of a methamphetamine ring out of Bucks County will serve between nine and 20 years in state prison, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

Seventy-two-year-old Gary Lynn Moyer of Dublin was sentenced on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to multiple counts related to manufacturing meth. The DA's Office said the ring was discovered in a joint Drug Strike Force investigation in 2020, in which all seven participants in the ring were arrested.

Moyer ran the operation out of his home on Cherry Lane, the DA said, with six people acting as "smurfs" — a reference to them gathering items and ingredients required to manufacture methamphetamine. These six delivered the items to Moyer, who used them to produce meth; the DA said some of them also acted as lookouts while he "cooked."

Each of the defendants was observed on several occasions going to Moyer’s residence after purchasing precursor chemicals, such as ephedrine, from area pharmacies, the DA's office said. Ephedrine is a main precursor chemical in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Security footage obtained from the pharmacy counters confirmed their purchase activities.

Moyer paid his co-defendants in meth, according to the DA's office. The investigation found that Moyer and his co-conspirators purchased enough medications containing ephedrine to produce nearly 2,000 grams of methamphetamine.

Moyer pleaded guilty on May 13 to operating a methamphetamine lab, possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, knowingly possessing ephedrine, conspiracy and other counts related to the organized production and sale of the drug.

He was the last of the seven to be sentenced, appearing before President Judge Wallace H. Bateman on Tuesday.

Also sentenced were: Teresa Ann Truitt, 60, of Dublin, three to seven years in state prison; Harold Roger Bickley, 62, of Perkasie, four to eight years in state prison; Annette Bickley, 58, of Perkasie, three and a half to seven years in state prison; Donna Rapoli, 57, of Easton, Northampton County, 11 ½ months to 23 months in county prison; and Christopher Ryan Clemmer, 40, of Dublin, 45 months to 90 months in state prison.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Thomas C. Gannon.

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