Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

PITTSBURGH — A resident of Sharon was sentenced in federal court to 188 months in federal prison for his conviction on cocaine trafficking crimes, U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Zachariah Owens, 37. Judge Bissoon also ordered Owens to serve six years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

Owens previously pleaded guilty in this case to (1) conspiring to distribute cocaine and crack in October 2021 and (2) possessing cocaine and crack with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school and a playground.

Prior to imposing sentence, the Court was informed that Owens, in October 2021, operated a cocaine trafficking scheme from his apartment in Sharon, where several children resided. In doing so, he placed both his cocaine and his loaded pistol in locations where the children easily could have accessed them, in addition to exposing the children to other well-known dangers of drug trafficking. Owens had spent nearly all of the preceding 15 years in state prison or on state parole for two violent armed robbery convictions in 2015 and 2006.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig W. Haller prosecuted this case on behalf of the U.S.

U.S. Attorney Olshan commended the Mercer County Drug Task Force, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for the investigation leading to the prosecution of Owens.

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