Alligator, Heroin Found In Coatesville Drug Dealer's House

WEST CHESTER, PA — A Coatesville man found guilty of selling heroin kept an alligator in his home, investigators said.

It is uncertain if the 3-foot reptile was a pet or a guard of the drugs the man was found guilty of selling at Wawa, but the animal was taken into police custody and sent to St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida.

The alligator owner, Irvin Hawkins, 33, of South Coatesville, between January and February 2019, sold heroin laced with fentanyl at a Wawa in Caln Township and a Dollar General store in Valley Township, according to a report from the Chester County District Attorney's Office.

According to the D.A.'s report, detectives on Feb. 8, 2019, found, in addition to the alligator, heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, over $5,000 in cash, and drug packaging materials in their possession.

A Chester County jury last week found Hawkins guilty of delivery of a controlled substance, conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, and related charges.

Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said, “Our detectives and prosecutors worked diligently to stop this defendant’s packaging and selling of potentially-lethal drugs in Coatesville. His conviction should send a message to other dealers that peddling drugs in Chester County will not be tolerated.”

Hawkins will be sentenced at a later date. A co-defendant in the case pled guilty and was sentenced in May 2019.

Chester County Detectives and the HIDTA unit (High-Density Trafficking Area) investigated the case. Assistant District Attorneys Michelle Thurstlic-O’Neill and Jessica Acito were the prosecutors.

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