LUZERNE COUNTY DRUG DEALER SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS IN PRISON

Martin C. Carlson, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a 24-year-old man from Trinidad who admitted to trafficking in more than five grams of crack cocaine in Luzerne County in February 2007, was sentenced today to serve five years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik.

Carlson stated that Shaka Toussaint, who resided in Brooklyn and Wilkes-Barre at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty on May 3, 2007, to distribution and possession with intent to distribute more than five grams of crack cocaine. Toussaint is an illegal alien who is subject to deportation following his prison sentence.

Toussaint was indicted by a federal grand jury on February 27, 2007, as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Wilkes-Barre Police.

Judge Kosik also ordered Toussaint to pay more than $2,000 in restitution for damages he caused in an effort to elude police, and to pay a $100 special assessment. Toussaint must also serve four years of supervised release after being released from prison in the event he is not deported.

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

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