Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Lamar Brown, age 38, of Edwardsville, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 168 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion for drug trafficking offense.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, on July 13, 2020, in Luzerne County, Brown possessed with intent to distribute quantities of fentanyl and cocaine, both Schedule II controlled substances.

The matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, the Kingston Police Department, the Wilkes-Barre Police Department, and the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorney James Buchanan prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

This case was also 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.

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