Department of Justice

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Jeffrey Abney, age 29, of Sugar Notch, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on August 15, 2019, by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion, to seven years’ imprisonment and three years on supervised release for distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Abney previously pleaded guilty and admitted to distributing heroin and fentanyl in the Luzerne County area. In July 2018, investigators made a number of purchases of packets containing heroin laced with fentanyl from Abney, and then obtained a search warrant for Abney’s residence in Sugar Notch, where additional amounts of heroin and fentanyl were found.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, who were assisted by the Kingston Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local and tribal enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce crime.

This case was also brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.

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