Life’s getting uglier
for NE man

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Legal troubles keep getting uglier for a Northeast Philadelphia man who two years ago was arrested for his alleged role in a major local drug ring known as the "Ugly Squad."
Edward Stern, 32, of the 8700 block of Perch Lane in Pennypack Woods, was arrested again on March 7 for allegedly selling crystal methamphetamines out of a wireless telephone store at 7300 Bustleton Ave. He was working as a salesman there while awaiting trial on his earlier drug case, according to Philadelphia police Cpl. Mark Palma of the Narcotics Field Unit 2.
Stern wore an electronic monitoring device around his ankle, which allowed members of the police unit’s Violence Response Team to track the suspect’s movements throughout the investigation.
When officers served search warrants on Stern’s 1986 Oldsmobile and two area homes, they allegedly found 731 grams of meth, 478 grams of cocaine, 8.5 grams of crack, small quantities of Percocet pills and Codeine syrup, five handguns, a semiautomatic rifle and $40,080 in cash.
All told, the seized drugs have a combined street value of $341,350, Palma said.
Authorities have not implicated anyone else from the store in connection with the drug sales, although undercover officers made a series of drug purchases from Stern at the business in recent weeks, Palma said.
In addition to the car and the Perch Lane house, police also raided a home on the 4400 block of Aldine St. in Mayfair, where a relative of Stern lives.
Officers Thomas Tolstoy and Charles Scollon led the investigation, which has been referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for likely federal prosecution, Palma said.
Prior charges against Stern included drug and weapons offenses. He was one of four men named by police in October 2005 as members of a major Wissinoming-based drug organization.
The men allegedly called themselves the Ugly Squad and operated out of a series of residences, including five on the 5000 block of Homestead St. Inside the houses, police allegedly found $1.3 million worth of drugs including cocaine, heroin, meth, Ecstasy, marijuana and prescription pills. There were 11 kilograms of cocaine alone.
The suspects also kept an assortment of firearms in the homes, police said at the time. One of the properties contained six alligators, some as long as 6 feet, in a man-made pond in the basement. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com