Nordonia grad helps nab 29 in drug bust

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by Jeff Saunders

Reporter

Nordonia Hills -- Being in college can be a busy time with many activities, but helping police bust up a drug ring is typically not one of them.

But it was a role taken on by Samantha Shelnick, and more than two dozen people in Pennsylvania are facing some serious drug charges in part because of her work.

Shelnick, a 2005 Nordonia High School graduate and daughter of Macedonia residents Kim and Randy Shelnick, is a junior at the Institute for Intelligence Studies at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa.

The program provides training in information analysis for students interested in working in such fields as national security, law enforcement and business intelligence.

A requirement of the program is that students complete at least one internship, offers of which are submitted to the school by companies and government agencies.

Shelnick was assigned to the office of Pennsylvania State Attorney General Tom Corbett, which was investigating a methamphetamine production ring.

"I hadn't worked in the law enforcement area at all and it sounded interesting," said Shelnick.

According to a March 19 press release from the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, "Operation Family Cook-Out" began in March 2007 and involved an investigation that began operating in 1994.

"Samantha played a significant role in the analysis portion of the investigation," said David Grabelski, an assistant professor in the intelligence studies program. "She didn't go out to interview people. Her work was in an office at a computer."

Shelnick said that Pennsylvania has laws that limit customer purchases of many over-the-counter cold medications. This is because these medications contain pseudoephedrine, an ingredient that can be distilled out to manufacture crystal meth. Purchasers are required to show a photo identification and fill out a log that includes their name, address, the product being purchased and the quantity.

For about six weeks, beginning in early February, Shelnick analyzed this information from stores in the Erie area looking for patterns, such as one person making multiple purchases up to the legal limit at different stores on the same day.

"It gave us a list of target names," she said.

She then looked at longer-term patterns involving purchases made by these individuals over time to help build a case and give law enforcement agents a list of people to question.

"Basically, the data was a startoff point," she said.

According to the attorney general's press release, the investigation culminated with charges against 29 men and women, including two brothers who allegedly ran the operation.

"Today their business is shut down and a significant hole has been put in the Erie meth market," the press release quoted Corbett.

Grabelski said he is proud of Shelnick.

"She's a great student," said Grabelski. "She made the program look good, she made herself look good, she made Mercyhurst look good."

Shelnick said she learned about the Mercyhurst program from the director of corporate security at KeyBank, where her father also works. Randy Shelnick said he first learned of his daughter's interests when she was in the seventh or eighth grade.

"She used to go out and look up stuff on the Internet about the FBI," he said. "That's one of the things I respect about her. She knew what she wanted to do and she's stuck with it."

Samantha said she is also majoring in Russian language and culture and spent several months at the end of 2007 studying in St. Petersburg, Russia.

"It's a critical language if I wanted to go into government work," she said.

When she graduates in 2009, Shelnick said she wants to go on to law school. Beyond that, she is considering a career with either the FBI or the CIA.

Her father said he and his wife both worry, but accept the likely direction their daughter's life is headed in.

"If she had been one of the agents in the drug investigation, she would have been in the line of fire," he said. "But she's doing what she wants to do, and we support her."

E-mail: jsaunders@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3169