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 Lee Crawford, age 62, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on June 5, 2024, by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion, to 144 months’ imprisonment on the charge of conspiracy to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl and the charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Crawford previously pleaded guilty and admitted to conspiring with other individuals to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl in the Luzerne County area between July 2020 and February 2021. Investigators made several purchases of fentanyl from Crawford and then obtained a search warrant for Crawford’s residence in Wilkes-Barre, where an additional amount of fentanyl was seized. Crawford also admitted to a separate charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl resulting from the search of his residence. Crawford was indicted by a grand jury sitting in Scranton in March 2021.
The charges against the defendant resulted from an investigation conducted by the Kingston Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, and the Luzerne County Drug Task Force. 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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