WILKES-BARRE - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Steven Silva-Lugo, age 32, of Henryville, Monroe County, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Court Senior Judge A. Richard Caputo to the charge of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and powder cocaine.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Silva-Lugo admitted to participating in a conspiracy to distribute between 280 grams and 840 grams of crack cocaine, as well as between 3.5 kilograms and 5 kilograms of powder cocaine, in the Monroe County area between May and July 2015. Silva-Lugo was one of eleven individuals indicted by a grand jury in July 2015 and charged with conspiring to distribute heroin, powder cocaine and crack cocaine in the Monroe County area. To date, eight defendants have entered guilty pleas and one defendant, Myles Davis, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
Judge Caputo ordered a presentence report to be completed. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local and tribal enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce crime.
This prosecution is also part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
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 charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison. The maximum penalty under federal law is up to life 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
