SCRANTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.
SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Vincent Fearon, age 33, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today in federal court in Scranton, by Senior United States District Edwin Kosik, to serve 57 months in prison on a charge of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. Fearon was ordered to serve an additional 3 years under court supervision upon his release from prison.
Fearon was charged after an investigation conducted by the Pennsylvania State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Wilkes-Barre City Police Department, the New Jersey State Police and the Internal Revenue Service. The investigation commenced after a routine traffic stop in January 2012, conducted on Interstate 81 in Susquehanna County by the Pennsylvania State Police of a car driven by Paul Rivera of Brooklyn, New York. During the stop, troopers discovered a distribution quantity of cocaine in the trunk of the vehicle. Rivera and other occupants of the car were initially charged with drug offenses in state court.
Further investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies revealed that Rivera was affiliated with “TF Mafia,” a group engaged in criminal activity as well as the production of rap music videos. Ultimately, the investigation resulted in racketeering and other charges being brought in the Eastern District of New York against Rivera and Michael Garrett, also of Brooklyn.
Rivera and Garrett were convicted at trial in federal court in Brooklyn earlier this year and face mandatory minimum sentences of life in prison as a result of the jury’s finding they committed a murder in furtherance of their racketeering activity.
Vincent Fearon, Hassan Woods and others were charged in federal court in Scranton as a result of their involvement in drug trafficking with TF Mafia. Woods was previously sentenced by Judge Kosik to 10 years in prison.
United States Attorney Peter Smith used the occasion of Fearon’s sentencing today to present letters of commendation to 14 individuals from the Pennsylvania and New Jersey State Police, the FBI Scranton Task Force and FBI New York Office and local law enforcement who participated in the investigation.
The case was prosecuted in the Eastern District of New York by Assistant United States Attorneys Taryn Merkl, Alixandra Smith and Michael Robotti. The case was prosecuted in the Middle District of Pennsylvania by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Houser.
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