Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment on August 21, 2018, charging Shavonne Saxon, age 30, of Kingston, Pennsylvania, with conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride and crack cocaine.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the superseding indictment charges Saxon with conspiring to distribute both cocaine hydrochloride and in excess of 28 grams of cocaine base (crack), between September 2016 and April 2017. Saxon previously was indicted in April 2017 for possessing with the intent to distribute more than 28 grams of cocaine base, and with possessing with the intent to distribute cocaine, in March and April 2017. Saxon also was charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of her narcotics trafficking and with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Saxon has remained in custody since her April 2017 arrest.

The matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and by the Kingston Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Phillip J. Caraballo is prosecuting 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.

Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

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 penalties under federal law for the charges are life imprisonment. The charges for conspiring to distribute and possessing over 28 grams of crack cocaine carries a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment, while the charge for possessing a firearm in furtherance of narcotics trafficking carries a five-year mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment that runs consecutive to any other term of imprisonment. 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.

# # #