Heroin Dealer Who Kept Alligator Gets 6-12 Years

COATESVILLE, PA — A Coatesville drug dealer who kept an alligator in his apartment found guilty of drug-related crimes in March will serve 6-12 years in prison.

Irvin Hawkins, 34, of South Coatesville, was sentenced to 6-12 years by the Honorable Judge Ann Marie Wheatcraft on Friday, after a jury found him guilty of Manufacture, Delivery, or Possession with Intent to Manufacture or Deliver a Controlled Substance and other crimes.

The charges and conviction were related to Hawkins selling heroin laced with fentanyl at a Wawa in Caln Township and a Dollar General store in Valley Township, between January and February 2019, according to police reports.

As Hawkins and his co-defendant were being investigated in 2019, detectives discovered a 3-foot alligator living in their house, the District Attorney's Office reported. In addition to the alligator, investigators found heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, over $5,000 in cash, and drug packaging materials in their possession, the report said.

The alligator was confiscated and sent to St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida.

A Chester County jury found Hawkins guilty in March 2021. His co-defendant pled guilty and was sentenced in May 2019.

Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said, "The defendant's sentence should signal to dealers who sell drugs in Chester County that they will face significant time if caught and convicted. Drugs have no business in our community."

Read an earlier story here.

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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