Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

WILKES BARRE - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Gethro Mondelice, age 38, formerly of Kingston, Pennsylvania, was convicted on June 6, 2018, for distribution of cocaine on three different occasions. After a two-day jury trial held before United States District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo, the jury returned the guilty verdict after three-and-a-half hours of deliberation.

 

The jury also found Mondelice not guilty of a charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

 

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Mondelice sold cocaine to a confidential informant on July 29, 31 and August 4, 2015, in Kingston. On August 5, the Kingston Police Department executed a search warrant and recovered cocaine, drug scales and more than $1,500, which included marked money from the July 31 and August 4 drug sales, from the defendant’s bedroom.

 

A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

 

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Kingston Police Department, and the Luzerne County Drug Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Evan Gotlob and Sean A. Camoni 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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions 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 law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

 

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 maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 20 years’ imprisonment, a term of lifetime 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.