May 6--PITTSFIELD -- The brother of a man accused of being a major Pittsfield drug dealer now faces drug charges himself.

Pittsfield resident Anthony Cargill, 39, of Boylston Street, used his younger brother, Michael Cargill, 34, as a drug supplier for his own illicit drug sales, according to a prosecutor in Central Berkshire District Court.

The older Cargill, who has pending charges in Berkshire Superior Court, is the latest defendant to be arraigned in connection with a series of March 3 raids that led to the arrest of Michael Cargill and several of his alleged accomplices.

Police and prosecutors have described Michael Cargill and Richard B. Carnevale Jr., 32, both of Pittsfield, as countywide dealers who supplied cocaine, marijuana and prescription painkillers to dealers throughout the Berkshires.

Around the same time that Anthony Cargill was being arraigned downstairs in District Court on Wednesday afternoon, several defendants in the March 3 drug case were being arraigned upstairs in Superior Court, including Carnevale.

Carnevale, Shane E. Whalen, 30, of Pittsfield, and Michael J. King, 52, of Adams, denied cocaine trafficking charges, among others, while David B. LaPlante, 32, of Pittsfield, denied various drug and gun offenses. Several more defendants, including Michael Cargill, have yet to be arraigned in connection with the March 3 raids, which Berkshire District Attorney David F.

Capeless characterized as "the first phase of a large-scale, ongoing investigation."

Capeless said the raids netted about $50,000 in reputed drug money, more than 150 grams of cocaine, over 25 pounds of high-grade marijuana, Oxycontin pills, methadone tablets and a .380-caliber handgun.

At Wednesday's Superior Court arraignments, Judge John A. Agostini set Carnevale's bail at $500,000 cash, $5 million bond, while Whalen, King and LaPlante were each held on $100,000 cash, $1 million bond.

Meanwhile, back in District Court, Berkshire Assistant District Attorney Rachel Eramo asked Judge Fredric D. Rutberg to revoke Anthony Cargill's right to bail for up to 60 days, citing Cargill's "extensive out-of-state record" and his pending drug and gun charges in Superior Court. Those charges stem from a May 2009 Berkshire County Drug Task Force investigation, according to the prosecutor.

For Cargill's new conspiracy charges, which stem from alleged electronic communications in February with his brother and associates, Eramo asked Rutberg to set bail at $50,000 cash, $500,000 bond.

Eramo said Cargill, a convicted criminal, was found with drugs and two loaded handguns -- a .357-caliber Lugar and a .380-caliber Cobra -- at the time of his May 2009 arrest. She said the drugs included several small bags of marijuana and 26 tablets of Percocet, a narcotic painkiller.

Despite Eramo's claim that Cargill easily posted $10,000 bail after last year's arrest and her recitation of Cargill's lengthy record, Rutberg denied her revocation and bail requests. Instead, the judge set bail for the new charges at $10,000, cash or bond, and ordered Cargill to return for June 2 pretrial hearing.

Eramo said police wiretaps on communication devices used by Michael Cargill and Carnevale revealed that Anthony Cargill was involved in drug dealing. Eramo said text-message conversations and phone conversations between Michael and Carnevale revealed that Anthony was placing drug orders with his younger brother.

At one point, Carnevale can be heard warning Michael that his older brother is selling the drugs too quickly, according to Eramo. The prosecutor quoted a brief transcript from the wiretaps in which Carnevale allegedly told Michael: "You better pull the leash in on your brother. He's going to hang himself. You know that, right?"

Public defender Joanna Arkema, who represented Anthony Cargill at Wednesday's arraignment, said prosecutors had misconstrued the communications between Michael Cargill and Carnevale.

Arkema said Anthony is not a drug dealer, but rather a person who has struggled with drug addiction for a long time. The wiretap conversations pertained to Anthony's drug use, she said, and not alleged drug sales.

To reach Conor Berry:

cberry@berkshireeagle.com;

(413) 496-6249.

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