Drug dealers used church to front addicts’ crimes, authorities say
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Authorities said Friday they arrested two drug dealers who forced addicts into sexual acts, violence and crime while using a ministry as a false front.
Edward Edmonds, 31, and Daerell Holmes, 20, both of Harrisburg, were charged with 13 felony counts each including involuntary servitude, money laundering, and possession with intent to deliver.
Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said Edmonds and Holmes used people against their will by withholding personal property and by threats and acts of violence.
He said women were forced into sexual acts and other victims as young as 16 were compelled to commit crimes, mostly the theft of electronics and other items, in exchange for drugs.
Marsico said the pair operated out of a fake church, the Beyond Your Limits Ministry, in the 2400 block of North Sixth Street.
“There was never any praying, never any spiritual guidance that took place in that location,” he said. “Instead, what occurred in that location was really a house of horrors for these addicts.”
Marsico said there may be more victims, and he urged those people to come forward.
Holmes and Edmonds were placed in Dauphin County Prison on $250,000 cash bail each. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9.