Purported drug counselor accused of dealing heroin charged again with tax offenses

Accused heroin dealer and purported drug counselor David Francis is already facing charges that could put him in federal prison for decades, if not life, but now he has new troubles related to his side business.

Federal prosecutors on Monday accused him of filing false income tax returns for five people for tax years 2015 and 2016.

Francis, 69, founder of Next Step Foundation in McKees Rocks, is under indictment on charges of running a heroin den out of his foundation and supplying fentanyl that killed two people. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents said he was a significant drug dealer in the region who was masquerading as a drug counselor and contributing directly to the opioid crisis.

He also ran a purported tax preparation business next door to the drug center called All Personal Matters, which he said brings in $700,000 a year. In previous hearings, prosecutors said that the business was little more than a front for his drug operation, staffed by addicts Francis paid with heroin and crack.

Those allegations were not included in the new charges, but prosecutors filed a one-page information accusing Francis of five counts of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns. They said he filed false Form 1040s that included false Schedule C business income and expenses, as well as false Schedule A business deductions in order to claim false refunds. He did that for five individuals identified only by their initials, filing the returns in 2016 and 2017, according to the charges.

Francis remains in jail, where he has been held for the last two years. He had asked to be released on the grounds that his health was in danger of being compromised in jail by COVID-19, but a judge rejected that request and he remains locked up.

Francis had previously indicated he was going to plead guilty in the drug case but backed out.

He was indicted with two New York suppliers, both of whom have pleaded guilty, on multiple counts of heroin dealing. He is also accused of delivering fentanyl that killed users in Ingram and in Beaver County.

The drug operation became apparent after police responding to drug overdoses across the region learned that Francis was the source, according to testimony at a detention hearing.

Agents said he founded Next Step Foundation as a nonprofit rehab center. But in 2012, he switched it to a for-profit company called Next Step Recovery Housing. Prosecutors said that was a move to shield his operation from scrutiny because non-profits are subject to reviews by authorities since they receive federal and state money.

DEA agents said Francis dealt drugs directly to clients at Next Step under the guise of treating them for addiction.