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 October 1, 2020, Mark Heath, age 41, and Amy Casey, age 42, both of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, were sentenced by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion for methamphetamine offenses. Heath was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment and four years of supervised release. Casey received a time served sentence of 10 months’ imprisonment, and two years of supervised release.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Heath pleaded guilty to conspiring to manufacture and distribute 50 grams or more of crystal methamphetamine in Pennsylvania between approximately May 2017 and June 2017. The evidence established that Heath manufactured methamphetamine in a Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania residence. Casey pleaded guilty to maintaining a drug premises, for permitting and assisting Heath and others in running the methamphetamine laboratory in her residence, in exchange for free methamphetamine. In pronouncing both sentences, Judge Mannion highlighted that the crimes jeopardized the safety of several children living in the residence, for which the defendants received sentencing enhancements.
Two other defendants were convicted in connection with this investigation:
(1) Shawn Melleski, formerly of Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to a methamphetamine conspiracy and was sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release; and
(2) Michael Laury, formerly of Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania, was convicted at trial of a methamphetamine conspiracy, managing a drug premises, and for providing false statements to law enforcement. Laury awaits sentencing.
The matter was investigated by the FBI, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Wilkes-Barre Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Phillip J. Caraballo and Jeffrey St John are prosecuting 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.
# # #
