Allentown Man Sentenced To Over 11 Years’ Imprisonment For Heroin Trafficking

SCRANTON—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Robert Birch, age 46, of Allentown, was sentenced on September 25, 2019, to 140 months’ imprisonment by Senior U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo, for his role in a heroin trafficking conspiracy that operated in Carbon and Lehigh Counties from December 2014 through September 2016.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Birch previously admitted to obtaining heroin from suppliers in New York and Allentown and distributing the drug in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Birch was responsible for distributing between 100 grams and 400 grams of heroin, which is approximately equivalent to between 4,000 and 16,000 retail bags of heroin.

Judge Caputo also ordered Birch to serve four years on supervised release following his prison sentence.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pennsylvania State Police, and Allentown Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Francis P. Sempa prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve 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 law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent 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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