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 today that Luis Nevarez, age 20, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment and four years of supervised release on September 4, 2018 by United States District Judge Malachy E. Mannion for conspiring to distribute heroin, crack cocaine, and fentanyl.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Nevarez pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute controlled substances in Pennsylvania between approximately December 2016 through January 2017.  Nevarez admitted to working as a drug dealer and runner in the conspiracy, and to transporting narcotics from New York to Pennsylvania.  Nevarez also admitted to trading narcotics in exchange for a firearm, and to having been affiliated with the Crips, a nationwide criminal organization.  Nevarez admitted to trafficking in excess of 112 grams of crack cocaine and in excess of 200 grams of heroin, the latter of which is the equivalent of 8,000 potentially fatal doses of heroin.

Nevarez was charged in June 2017 with 14 other individuals.  All of his co-defendants have pleaded guilty, with seven others having already been sentenced:

  • Kassandra Martin of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment;
  • Joshua Lenchick of Luzerne, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment;
  • Kristyna Shotwell of Plymouth, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 12 months and one day of imprisonment;
  • Tanay Jones of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to a time served sentence of 19 days of imprisonment;
  • William Waring of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment;
  • John Maybank of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 53 months of imprisonment; and
  • Siobhan Daniels, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Kingston Police Department, and by the Luzerne County Drug Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip J. Caraballo prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority.   In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.

This 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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