Driver in fatal Cranberry crash waives hearing
CRANBERRY TWP — A Beaver County man facing charges related to a three-vehicle crash that killed a Cranberry Township man Sunday, Dec. 4, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Friday, Dec. 9.
Darren M. Martin, 34, of Monaca, was arrested after a crash at the intersection of Route 19 and Ehrman Road, where Bertram Forsyth, 46, was pronounced dead, according to township police.
District Judge Kevin Flaherty denied a bond reduction requested by Joseph Smith, the public defender representing Martin.
Martin is being held in Butler County Prison in lieu of a $500,000 bond on the crash charges, which include homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, DUI, recklessly endangering another person, and traffic citations including failing to stop at a red light and reckless driving.
He additionally was placed under a $100,000 bond for charges filed Monday, Dec. 5, related to an alleged retail theft at Home Depot in Cranberry Township.
Martin is scheduled to appear in the county Common Pleas Court for formal arraignment in January.
As a result of the charges filed by township police, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Pittsburgh has filed a detainer to hold Martin in custody for violating terms of the supervised release he was serving after pleading guilty to his role in a multistate drug distribution ring that operated from 2017 to 2019 and involved 27 indicted defendants.
The supervised release violation that federal probation officers filed against Martin on Wednesday, Dec. 7, says the homicide by vehicle charges filed Dec. 5 and the theft charges also filed Dec. 5, violated terms of the three years of supervised release he was serving.
His supervised release began April 16, 2021, and was set to expire April 15, 2024. Before his supervised release, Martin served 27 months in prison. He was sentenced in February 2020 after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. The drugs distributed by the ring include cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, synthetic cannabinoids and buprenorphine.
According to the supervised release violation petition, the maximum prison sentence for the violation is two years, but sentencing guidelines call for a sentence of 6 to 12 months.
The drug ring was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and state and local agencies including the Attorney General’s office, Erie County district attorney’s office and police in Pittsburgh, Munhall, Robinson Township, McKees Rocks, Stowe Township and Etna.
