LUZERNE COUNTY COUPLE SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR ALLOWING DRUG DEALERS TO USE THEIR HOME

Martin C. Carlson, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a husband and wife who allowed Brooklyn-based drug traffickers to sell crack cocaine, cocaine, and heroin from their residence in Luzerne County for a brief time period in 2007, were sentenced to prison today by U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley.

Carlson stated that Bernard Kuprionas, age 40, and Linda Kuprionas, age 39, both of Dallas, Pennsylvania, were both sentenced to five months in prison to be followed by five months of home detention. Both previously pleaded guilty to allowing their former residence in Wilkes-Barre to be used to store, distribute and use illegal drugs.

The defendants were among 13 people indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2007, as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Pennsylvania State Police, and Wilkes-Barre Police. Eleven defendants have entered guilty pleas in the case. Three defendants, Jeffrey Malivert , Hassan Mustapha, and George Lowers, were previously sentenced by Judge Munley to 66 months, 63 months, and 60 months in prison, respectively. Two other defendants, Aaron Saunders and Vincent Jackson, are awaiting trial.

Judge Munley also ordered Bernard and Linda Kuprionas to serve three years of supervised release after serving their prison sentences, and each must pay a special assessment of $100.

Carlson noted that the cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.

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