Luzerne County Man Sentenced To Five Years In Prison For Possession Of Firearms In Furtherance Of Drug Trafficking

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Dennis Couvertier, age 45, of Luzerne Borough, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on December 1, 2017, by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion to serve five years in prison for possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking activity.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Couvertier previously entered a guilty plea to the charge before Judge Mannion in May 2017.  The charge stems from an incident in June 2015, in which investigators arrested Couvertier after he made a sale of cocaine to another individual.  Investigators then served a search warrant at Couvertier’s residence in Luzerne Borough and seized a .45 caliber semi-automatic Taurus pistol, a 9mm Smith and Wesson semi-automatic pistol, 43 rounds of ammunition, $2,916 in United States Currency, drug paraphernalia and drug packaging materials.

In addition to the sentence of imprisonment, Judge Mannion ordered that Couvertier be supervised by a probation officer for three years after his release from prison.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Kingston Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of the Violent Crime Reduction Partnership (“VCRP”), a district wide initiative to combat the spread of violent crime in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the VCRP consists of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies whose mission is to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes with firearms.

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