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 Jesean DeShields, age 31, of York, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on April 6, 2022, to 25 years’ imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner for drug trafficking and firearms offenses.

According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, law enforcement first began investigating DeShields in September 2018. On September 27, 2018, they executed a search warrant at his East College Avenue apartment in York. They did not find him, but they found cocaine trafficking evidence and two firearms. 

Less than six weeks later, police executed a second search warrant at a home on East Boundary Avenue in York. During the November 1, 2018 search, police recovered quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine, and oxycodone and another firearm.  Deshields was arrested at the scene of this second search warrant. At the time of these events, Deshields had multiple prior convictions which prohibited him from possessing a firearm and qualified him as an Armed Career Criminal. 

In October 2021, a jury convicted DeShields of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine base, and oxycodone, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm as a felon. Judge Conner sentenced DeShields to the mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the York City Police, and the York County Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Consiglio prosecuted the case.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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