SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that a Luzerne County man was indicted late yesterday by a federal grand jury in Scranton for heroin trafficking.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the indictment charges Pedro Noriega, age 42, of Plymouth, Luzerne County, with possession with intent to distribute heroin.
The charge stems from an investigation in April 2015 which investigators arranged to make a purchase of heroin from Noriega and then obtained a search warrant for Noriega’s residence on West Main Street in Plymouth, and allegedly seized approximately 495 bags of suspected heroin, 19 grams of raw heroin, packaging materials and drug paraphernalia from a bedroom in the residence.
The investigation was conducted by the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, the Bureau of Narcotics Investigations (BNI) of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Prosecution is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara.
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 guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The maximum penalty under federal law is up to twenty years in prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. 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
