HARRISBURG — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.

HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Fernandino Rodriguez-Colon, age 40, of York, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on August 15, 2019, by U.S. District Court Judge Sylvia H. Rambo to 262 months’ imprisonment followed by six years of supervised release, for drug trafficking and firearms offenses.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Rodriguez-Colon distributed and possessed with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine base in January 2018, in York.  Rodriguez-Colon, a prohibited person, also possessed a stolen Remington .45 caliber pistol in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities. After selling heroin and crack cocaine to undercover officers, a search warrant was executed and Rodriguez-Colon was found with 11.75 grams of crack cocaine and 21.57 grams of heroin (which is equivalent to approximately 719 individual doses of heroin).

Judge Rambo also ordered Rodriguez-Colon to forfeit to the United States the firearm he possessed in furtherance of his drug trafficking.

This case was investigated by the York County Drug Task Force with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Assistant U.S. Attorney James T. Clancy 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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