A senior majoring in criminal justice at Elizabethtown College was charged with drug possession after police discovered marijuana and marijuana-growing equipment in his home.

Investigators said they found 28 grams of marijuana valued at $150 and drug-growing equipment in the home of Jason Joseph Yurchak, 24, of West High Street, Elizabethtown.

The Lancaster County Drug Task Force — assisted by the Elizabethtown Borough Police Department — executed a search warrant of the suspect's home at about 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Officers said they found the marijuana hidden in Yurchak's bedroom. In the basement of the home, investigators said they discovered "growing equipment" that included grow lights, potting soil, growing pots and a how-to book on growing marijuana.

Police said they also found $345.

Yurchak was charged with possessing marijuana with intent to distribute the drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was arraigned before a magisterial district judge and committed to Lancaster County Prison in lieu of $60,000 cash bail.

In an unrelated drug arrest, officers apprehended a Lancaster man they said had heroin and powder cocaine.

Police said Ralph Maldonado, 46, Caroline Street, Lancaster, was on his way back home from New York City when they stopped his vehicle and found the drugs — which included 100 grams of bulk heroin.

Drug Task Force detectives said they stopped the suspect's vehicle just before 6 a.m. Thursday, as Maldonado was leaving the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the Route 222 exit in East Cocalico Township.

During the search, police discovered $15,000 worth of  heroin and $500 worth of powder cocaine.

Detectives said they also searched the suspect's rented storage locker, where they found numerous power and carpenter tools that were seized as assets of his alleged drug business.

Maldonado was awaiting arraignment before magisterial district judge Nancy G. Hamill in Stevens, police said.

Detectives said they seized the suspect's 2004 Nissan Pathfinder during the arrest.


Staff writer Carla Di Fonzo can be reached at cdifonzo@LNPnews.com or 481-6027.