The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a federal grand jury in Harrisburg today indicted a New York City man on charges involving unlawful distribution of cocaine.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, Wesley Jackson, 50, New York, NY was indicted on charges of unlawfully distributing cocaine and conspiring to distribute cocaine from September to November 2014. Jackson was also charged with using a facility in interstate commerce to cause money to be electronically transferred from Pennsylvania to New York via a money exchange service. The funds allegedly represented the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking. Jackson, if convicted, faces a combined maximum term of imprisonment of 50 years and fines totaling $2,250,000.00.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Harrisburg Resident Office and the Harrisburg Police Department. Prosecution of the case has been assigned to Assistant United States Attorney William A. Behe.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
