Luzerne County Man Sentenced To 37 Months In Prison For Bath Salts Conspiracy

SCRANTON- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 30-year-old Larksville man was sentenced today to 37 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion in Scranton, for conspiring with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute alpha-pvp, commonly known as “bath salts.”

According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the defendant, John Pearce, previously admitted to participating in the conspiracy which distributed alpha-pvp to customers during December 2011 through August 2013.

Pearce was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2014, as a result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Postal Inspectors, the Pennsylvania State Police, and West Pittston Police.  All eleven defendants charged in the case have entered guilty pleas, including the principal distributors from West Pittston, Pennsylvania, and their suppliers from Texas.

Judge Mannion also ordered that Pearce serve three years on supervised release following his prison sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa prosecuted the case.

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