Scranton man arrested on drug-related charges

Jun. 30—A Scranton man faces charges after selling what he told investigators was fake drugs to a confidential informant, Lackawanna County detectives said.

Christopher Joseph Pinko, 35, 433 10th Ave., was arrested Monday around 5 p.m. in the 1400 block of Mulberry Street after the informant completed a controlled buy of suspected crystal methamphetamine, detectives said.

After he was taken into custody, Pinko told a detective he sells fake drugs to make money, his arrest affidavit said. The substance he sold the informant was field tested with inconclusive results.

Detectives charged Pinko with delivery of a non-controlled substance, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was held in Lackawanna County Prison on $75,000 bail after arraignment by Magisterial District Judge Alyce Farrell. His preliminary hearing is 9:15 a.m. Tuesday.

— DAVID SINGLETON