The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has announced that Tyla Griffin, a 36-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona, has been sentenced to 92 months in prison. This sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release for her involvement in conspiring to distribute and distributing fentanyl.
Acting United States Attorney John C. Gurganus stated that Griffin moved from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania to Phoenix, Arizona around January 2020. In Arizona, she and co-conspirator Davon Beckford established a connection with a local supplier of fentanyl pills. Together, they conspired to sell these pills to drug dealers known to them in Luzerne County. Griffin used the U.S. Postal Service to distribute hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills from Arizona to associates in Pennsylvania.
Griffin was indicted by a grand jury in Scranton on February 15, 2022. She appeared in federal court in Scranton on February 28, 2023, where she pleaded guilty to her role in the fentanyl trafficking conspiracy. Her co-conspirator Beckford received a sentence of 240 months on January 24, 2025, after pleading guilty to distributing fentanyl resulting in death.
The charges against Griffin resulted from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Scranton and the Wilkes-Barre Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Olshefski handled the prosecution.
This case is part of a district-wide initiative aimed at combating the nationwide epidemic involving heroin and fentanyl use and distribution. The Heroin Initiative targets traffickers operating within the Middle District of Pennsylvania as part of coordinated efforts among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
Additionally, this case falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which aims to reduce violent crime and gun violence through collaboration between law enforcement at all levels and community organizations. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a strategy focusing on fostering trust within communities, supporting preventive community-based organizations, setting strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring outcomes.
