Jersey Shore Man Bound over in Clinton County Cocaine Case

LOCK HAVEN – Timothy Ray Tule, 44, of 340 Maple Street, Jersey Shore, was bound over for trial on felony cocaine delivery and conspiracy to deliver charges following a preliminary hearing in Clinton County Central Court on Tuesday.

At the preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Frank Mills, Officer Joshua Eichenlaub of the Lock Haven City Police testified that he and other members of the East Drug Task Force conducted an investigation into the distribution of cocaine in Clinton County by utilizing a confidential informant to make a series of controlled buys. In September, Eichenlaub said the Task Force conducted four controlled buys with a 21 day period from both Tule and his co-defendant, and paramour, Tina Marie Bower, 47.

Bower and Tule are alleged to have used the same cell phone to communicate directly with the confidential informant and arrange the four drug transactions. The first drug deal is said to have occurred in McElhattan, when authorities said Bower delivered approximately two grams of cocaine to the informant. Tule had previously arranged the sale of cocaine to the informant the day prior, but Tule had been incarcerated for unrelated offenses in Lycoming County in the interim. Eichenlaub testified that he had obtained and reviewed telephone call recordings of conversations between Tule and Bower where they appear to discuss various drug deliveries by talking in “code.”

The second delivery was allegedly made by Bower to the informant in Bald Eagle Township, again providing the informant with 2 grams of cocaine. The third and fourth deliveries were said to be arranged directly with Tule, both for approximately 2 grams of cocaine, and occurred at Tule’s residence in Jersey Shore.

Lock Haven City Police Chief Keith Kibler also testified at the hearing and played a series of recorded telephone calls for the court that were said to have occurred between the informant and Bower and Tule. Bower and Tule were heard discussing with the informant, the details of each of the drug deliveries, including the specific weight of each amount of cocaine, the price for each amount of cocaine and providing the times and locations of each delivery.

Tule remains incarcerated in lieu of $75,000 bail.