June 23, 2008
NEWS RELEASE

Allentown Woman Sentenced to 92 Months in Prison for Participating in
Cocaine and Crack Conspiracy

     Martin C. Carlson, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a Lehigh County woman was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley to serve 92 months in prison for her role in a cocaine and crack cocaine trafficking ring that operated in Carbon and Lehigh Counties during 2004 through 2005.

     Carlson stated that Brandee Leist, age 29, was sentenced after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and more than five grams of crack.

     Leist pleaded guilty in April 2007. She was charged as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police. Leist was one of twenty people charged in the case. Seventeen defendants have entered guilty pleas to drug charges. Three of the defendants, Christopher Berry, Alan Holmes, and Juan Hiraldo, are awaiting trial.

     Judge Munley also ordered Leist to be placed on four years of supervised release after serving her prison sentence. Leist must also pay a $100 special assessment.

     Carlson noted that the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.
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