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 on December 17, 2019, Victoria Kraynak, age 28, of Luzerne, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 66 months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release, by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion, for conspiring to distribute heroin, crack cocaine, and fentanyl.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Kraynak pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute controlled substances in Pennsylvania, from approximately November 2015 through March 2017.  Kraynak admitted to working as a drug dealer in the conspiracy, to transporting drugs from New York to Pennsylvania for redistribution, to possessing firearms, and to supervising other members of the conspiracy.  Kraynak admitted to trafficking in excess of 840 grams of crack cocaine, fentanyl, and in excess of 1 kilogram of heroin, the latter of which is the equivalent of 40,000 potentially fatal doses of heroin.

Kraynak was charged in June 2017 with 14 other individuals.  All of her co-defendants have pleaded guilty, with 13 others having already been sentenced:

  • Kassandra Martin of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment;
  • Joshua Lenchick of Luzerne, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 60 months’ 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’  imprisonment;
  • William Waring of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment;
  • John Maybank of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 53 months’ imprisonment;
  • Siobhan Daniels, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment;
  • Luis Nevarez, of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment;
  • Adonis Smith, of New London, Connecticut, was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment;
  • Cara Dubaskas, of Plymouth, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to a time served sentence of seven months;
  • Chad Eckrote, of Plymouth, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to three years of probation;
  • Adam Gottstein, of Kingston, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 78 months’ imprisonment; and
  • Amanda Romano, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, and by the Kingston Police Department.  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 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 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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