A Schuylkill County woman is facing a felony charge after police say she threatened to “split” a witness’s “head open” and threatened to “(bleep) her up” in an effort to get the witness to recant testimony in her pending drug case.
Police in Tamaqua were dispatched to a Cedar St. residence around 10:30 p.m. Thursday for a reported disturbance. Officers arrived and met with the minor-aged witness at the home.
Ivette Roman, 56, of Tamaqua, was previously charged with felony drug possession by Tamaqua police, and the witness is the key witness in that case, according to police.
Roman was charged in that case in June 2025 after Tamaqua police searched a Pine St. residence and said they found more than 87 grams of cocaine, approximately 3 pounds of marijuana and more than $21,000 in cash inside two safes, along with a scale, empty baggies and three firearms. She faces two felony counts of possession with intent to deliver and misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana in that case, according to court records.
The witness has told the department and the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Office that she will not recant her statement or change her account, police say.
According to police, the witness said that Thursday night, Roman learned a suppression hearing held in County court the previous week had been upheld, meaning none of the evidence in her drug case would be thrown out, and that the case was now headed to an October trial.
The witness told police Roman became hostile toward her afterward and threatened to “split her head open” and “(bleep) her up” if she didn’t recant her statement. Police say Roman also told the witness that “if she’s going to jail it’s going to be for a good reason,” a comment police characterized as an implied threat.
The witness told police the statements left her afraid and that she no longer felt safe.
Tamaqua police charged Roman with intimidating a witness, a third-degree felony, and terroristic threats, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Roman was arraigned shortly before 2 a.m. Friday before Magisterial District Judge Anthony Kilker. She was remanded to Schuylkill County Prison after bail was set at 10% of $25,000. She posted bail the same day and was released.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 4 before Magisterial District Judge Stephen Bayer.
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