Monroe County Man Pleads Guilty To Multi-County Drug Trafficking Conspiracy
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 32-year-old Effort resident pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani to participating in a drug conspiracy that was responsible for distributing large quantities of heroin, cocaine and other drugs during a four-year time period in Monroe, Montgomery, and Berks Counties.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the defendant, Ramon Baez, admitted to regularly obtaining drugs from suppliers in Reading and New York, and distributing those drugs to other dealers in Reading and the Monroe County area.
The charge against Baez resulted from an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Berks County Detectives and Montgomery County Detectives.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
In this case, the maximum penalty under the federal statute is 20 years imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a $1 million 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.
Judge Mariani ordered a pre-sentence report to be completed. Sentencing is scheduled to take place in July 2015.
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