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 Jose Torres, age 28, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced on March 12, 2024, by U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani, to ten years’ imprisonment on the charge of possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Torres previously pleaded guilty and admitted to possessing between 15 kilograms and 50 kilograms of cocaine for further distribution in the Lackawanna County area in September 2022. Torres and another individual, Luis Gonzalez, age 28, also of El Paso, Texas, were indicted by a grand jury in Scranton for cocaine trafficking in October 2022. The charges stem from an incident on September 29, 2022, in which members of the Pennsylvania State Police made a traffic stop of a vehicle in Lackawanna County. Torres and Gonzalez were the occupants of the vehicle. A subsequent search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of sixteen individually wrapped kilograms of cocaine, having a street-value of approximately $500,000.

Co-defendant Luis Gonzalez was previously sentenced by Judge Mariani to serve ten years’ imprisonment.

The investigation was conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Pennsylvania State Police and the Scranton Police Department. 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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