Lackawanna County Man Pleads Guilty To Drug Trafficking

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Jean Quinones, age 26, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on March 24, 2021, before U.S. District Court Judge Malacy E. Mannion to attempt to possess with intent to distribute in excess of 500 grams of cocaine.

According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, the charge stems from an investigation in which Customs and Border Patrol agents intercepted a package which had been mailed from the Virgin Islands to Scranton.  The package was found to contain a kilogram of cocaine.  Homeland Security agents and U.S. Postal Inspectors arrested Quinones shortly after he picked up the package at a post office in Scranton.

Judge Mannion ordered that a presentence investigation take place.  Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. 

The investigation was conducted by the Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Customs and Border Patrol, and the Scranton Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara is prosecuting the case.

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Under federal law, the drug trafficking offense carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, up to a maximum sentence of forty years in prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

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