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 Casey Read, age 40, of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, was sentenced on December 19, 2023, by U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani, to 66 months’ imprisonment on the charge of conspiracy to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Read previously pleaded guilty and admitted to obtaining between 40 grams and 160 grams of fentanyl from coconspirators Eric Hill, age 34, of Plymouth, and Candacelee Ellis, age 37, also of Plymouth, which Read then distributed in the Luzerne County area between 2019 and 2020. Hill, Ellis and Read were indicted by a grand jury in August 2020 for fentanyl trafficking.
Previously, Judge Mariani sentenced Eric Hill to serve ten years’ imprisonment and Candacelee Ellis to serve 30 months’ imprisonment for conspiring to distribute fentanyl in the Luzerne County area.
The charge against the defendants resulted from an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the Kingston Police Department, the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
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