Three Western Pennsylvania Men Arrested For Trafficking In Cocaine And Fentanyl
As illegal drugs go, cocaine has never entirely lost its glamorous image. We still think of it as the white powder that gave us the most inspired sounds to come out of the recording studios of Los Angeles in the 1970s, from Hotel California and “Werewolves of London” to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. If you are old enough to remember that, then you also know that, father east, first in Chicago and then in New York, cocaine was responsible for the wild antics of the early years of Saturday Night Live. No one worried when John Belushi snorted vast amounts of cocaine, because the rest of the cast was doing it, too; they only started to get concerned when he turned to heroin. Even when it was the most feared drug of the 1980s, cocaine continued to boast of its Studio 54 pedigree; it still promised to “make tonight a wonderful thing,” as Steely Dan once said. Cocaine’s notoriety as the crack rock of the 1980s still carries a mystique of adventures on the beaches of Miami and the mean streets of New York that blur the lines between good and evil. When we associate drugs with Western Pennsylvania, we think of backyard meth labs and opioid pills that flowed downstream from the patients of doctors who do not ask too many questions before prescribing. Despite this, arrests for cocaine trafficking still happen in Pennsylvania, including a recent indictment of three men from the Pittsburgh area. If you are facing criminal charges related to cocaine, contact a Pittsburgh drug crime lawyer.
Why Is Drug Trafficking a Federal Crime?
Drug crime cases can go through state courts or criminal courts. If you get caught with enough cocaine to make tonight a wonderful thing but not much more, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will be the one to bring the criminal charges against you. By contrast, criminal cases where the crime or the investigation does not fit neatly into one state go through the federal criminal courts. This includes crimes that involve the Internet. It also involves drug trafficking cases where the drugs or the investigation crosses state lines.
In the News
A federal court has issued an indictment for three men in Western Pennsylvania and one in California. The men are accused of trafficking more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than 400 grams of fentanyl across the country. The Pennsylvania defendants live in Duquesne, White Oak, and Homestead. At the time of the arrest, one of them had a handgun in his possession. Because he has a prior felony conviction, he is also facing charges for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases
A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges related to possession or sale of cocaine or another controlled substance. Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.
Source:
yahoo.com/news/articles/4-arrested-pittsburgh-area-charged-192439544.html
