Pennsylvania man pleads guilty to heroin and cocaine trafficking

Date: Aug. 26, 2024

Contact: [email protected]

Johnstown, PA - A resident of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of violating federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

Rodney Smith pleaded guilty to Count One of the Superseding Indictment before Senior United States District Judge Kim R. Gibson.

In connection with the guilty plea, the Court was advised that, from around January 2021 to around June 2021 in Western Pennsylvania, Smith conspired with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute quantities of heroin, cocaine, and cocaine base in the form commonly known as crack. Smith was intercepted on a federal wiretap obtaining quantities of the drugs that he distributed to others.

Judge Gibson scheduled sentencing for Jan. 13, 2025. The law provides for a total sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $1 million, or both. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Maureen Sheehan-Balchon is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Laurel Highlands Resident Agency and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Smith. Additional agencies participating in this investigation include Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, United States Postal Inspection Service, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Pennsylvania State Police, Cambria County District Attorney's Office, Indiana County District Attorney's Office, Cambria County Sheriff's Office, Cambria Township Police Department, Indiana Borough Police Department, Johnstown Police Department, Upper Yoder Township Police Department, Richland Police Department, Ferndale Police Department, and other local law enforcement agencies.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multiagency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.