Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Luzerne County Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years’ Imprisonment for Heroin Trafficking And Unlawful Possession of a Firearm
SCRANTON—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Brandon Diggs, age 29, of Kingston, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on July 16, 2019, by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion to 188 months’ imprisonment and to serve six years supervised release for trafficking in heroin and unlawfully possessing a handgun as a convicted felon.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Diggs previously pleaded guilty to committing both crimes and admitted to possessing with intent to distribute heroin and unlawfully possessing a loaded 9mm handgun on June 9, 2018, in Kingston.
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and Kingston Police seized more than 100 bags of heroin and the firearm from a residence where Diggs was staying.
The matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Kingston Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa 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. The Department of Justice 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.
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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