Effort Man Sentenced To 240 Months In Prison For Distributing Fentanyl Resulting In Death

SCRANTON- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Matthew Luce, a/k/a “Luck,” age 36, of Effort, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion for distributing fentanyl resulting in death.  Judge Mannion also sentenced Luce to 188 months on a separate drug trafficking conspiracy case. The sentences are to run concurrently.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, on February 6, 2021, Luce knowingly and intentionally distributed a quantity of fentanyl within the Middle District of Pennsylvania, resulting in the death of a 36-year-old Clinton, New Jersey man.  Luce was also responsible, between November 26, 2020 until the date of his arrest on February 23, 2021, for conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute over 50 grams of methamphetamine and 100 grams of heroin.  Luce had previously pleaded guilty to both charges. 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office (NJ), the Clinton Police Department (NJ), the Stroud Area Regional Police Department, and the Pennsylvania State Police.  Assistant U.S. Attorney James M. Buchanan 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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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