LACKAWANNA COUNTY WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO AIDING DRUG RING

Martin C. Carlson, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a 30-year-old Scranton woman today admitted her involvement in assisting a heroin trafficking conspiracy that operated in Lackawanna County during 2004 through 2008.

Carlson stated that Tesha Spindler pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik to aiding and abetting interstate travel in aid of drug trafficking. Spindler admitted to helping Paul Law and others obtain heroin from suppliers in New Jersey and distribute it to customers in Lackawanna County.

Spindler is one of 15 defendants charged by a federal grand jury with participating in the drug conspiracy. Those charges resulted from an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATFE)and the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office. Others charged in the probe who have also entered guilty pleas in federal court include Paul Law, Shawn Isom, Mark Sleboda, and Bill Robinson. Judge Kosik recently sentenced Isom to 10 years in prison for his role in the drug conspiracy.

Spindler faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
Carlson noted that the case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.

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An Indictment or Information is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the Grand Jury and/or United States Attorney against a defendant. A charged Defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the United States has proven the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or until the defendant has pled guilty to the charges.