Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on August 14, 2019, Jeffrey Stevens, age 36, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 188 months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release, by United States District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani, for drug trafficking and firearms offenses.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Stevens was convicted of distributing and possessing with the intent to distribute 10 grams of heroin (which is equivalent to approximately 400 individual doses of heroin) in February 2015. Stevens also was convicted of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, after being found in a hotel room with heroin, firearms, and ammunition. Due to his extensive criminal history, he was deemed an armed career criminal.

Judge Mariani also ordered the forfeiture of the firearms seized during the investigation, which included:

• .380 Bersa pistol with an obliterated serial number;
• 9mm Keltec pistol with an obliterated serial number; and
• 357 Taurus revolver, Serial Number ZH-73125.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. Assistant United States Attorney Phillip Caraballo 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.

The case also was 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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