PITTSBURGH - On April 24, 2017, Lance Gardenhire was convicted of conspiring to engage in large-scale heroin trafficking and money laundering, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.
Gardenhire, age 41, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pled guilty on the first day of trial in the courtroom of United States District Court Judge Nora Barry Fischer. In support of the guilty plea, the prosecution informed Judge Fischer that, for several years leading up to May 2015, Gardenhire led a heroin trafficking organization in Western Pennsylvania. The organization was centered in and around the Beltzhoover area of Pittsburgh. Gardenhire admitted as part of his guilty plea to being responsible for the distribution of between 30 and 90 kilograms of heroin and for the possession of a dangerous weapon. Also as part of his guilty plea, Gardenhire agreed to forfeit his interest in several Mercedes, Infinity, and Nissan vehicles.
In support of the money laundering conviction, the prosecution informed Judge Fischer that Lance Gardenhire, along with his wife, Lasean Gardenhire, filtered thousands of dollars of Lance Gardenhire’s heroin trafficking proceeds through Lasean Gardenhire’s bank accounts at federally insured banks that were engaged in interstate commerce. The heroin trafficking proceeds were thereby converted into bank funds and ultimately real and personal property possessed by Lance and Lasean Gardenhire.
Judge Fischer scheduled sentencing for Lance Gardenhire to occur on Aug. 30, 2017, at 9:30 a.m.
Assistant United States Attorneys Rachael L. Dizard and Craig W. Haller prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pittsburgh Police Bureau of Police, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security Investigations led the multi-agency investigation of this case that also included the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the United States Marshals Service, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Scott Township Police Department, the Munhall Police Department, the Baldwin Police Department, and the Pleasant Hills Police Department. The investigation was funded by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
