SCRANTON-The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Israel Calcano-Garcia, age 46, a citizen of the Dominican Republic who resided in Hazleton at the time of his arrest, was sentenced on Nov. 1, 2017, to 27 months’ imprisonment by U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani, for distributing heroin within a thousand feet of a school.
According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Calcano-Garcia previously admitted to selling heroin numerous times between January and August 2015, near a school in Hazleton. Calcano-Garcia distributed between 80 and 100 grams of heroin, which is approximately equal to between 3,000 and 4,000 retail bags of heroin.
Judge Mariani also ordered Calcano-Garcia to serve six years on supervised release following his prison sentence. Calcano-Garcia also faces deportation for committing a drug trafficking felony.
Calcano-Garcia was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2015, as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Hazleton Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
