A Monroe County man was given a 20-year prison term for selling fentanyl, which caused a New Jersey man to die.
Matthew Luce, also known as “Luck,” 36, was sentenced to 240 months in prison by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion for the distribution of fentanyl that caused death, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania reported on Tuesday.
In a second drug trafficking conspiracy case, Luce was also given a concurrent sentence of 188 months in prison.
A 36-year-old male from Clinton, New Jersey died on February 6, 2021 as a result of receiving an undetermined amount of fentanyl from Luce in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, according to United States District Attorney Gerard M. Karam.
Related:Fentanyl delivery by a Poconos guy that killed a New Jersey person
A Monroe County man and a New Jersey accomplice were recently sentenced in a drug delivery death.
Luce was also in charge of a conspiracy to possess 100 grammes of heroin and more than 50 grammes of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute them. Prior to now, Luce had admitted guilt on both counts.
The Clinton Police Department, the Stroud Area Regional Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Pennsylvania State Police all looked into the matter. James M. Buchanan, an assistant US attorney, brought the case.
The case was brought up, according to the DOJ, as a part of a district-wide effort to fight the widespread epidemic of the trafficking and usage of heroin and fentanyl. The Heroin Initiative, which is overseen by the U.S. District Attorney’s Office, seeks out heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. It makes use of local, state, and federal law enforcement organisations to track down offenders and bring them to justice.
Project Safe Neighborhoods, a programme that unites all tiers of law enforcement with the communities they serve in an effort to lessen violent crime and gun violence, also involved this case.
According to data from the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System, Monroe County experienced a peak in the number of drug deliveries that resulted in fatalities in 2020, when 31 offences were reported. Only Lancaster and York counties saw more of these charges between 2017 and 2021 than Monroe County, with 132 and 117 charges, respectively.
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