New York-Based Drug Trafficker Sentenced to Over Fifteen Years in Federal Prison for Drug Trafficking

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Jamell R. O’Neal, age 42, of East Meadow, New York, was sentenced on August 22, 2025, to 188 months in prison by United States District Judge Julia K. Munley, related to his plea of guilty for one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams and more of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. O’Neal will have to serve a 5-year term of supervised release following his incarceration. 

According to Acting United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, from September of 2023 through at least February of 2024, federal agents received information about illegal drug trafficking activity taking place in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Agents engaged in surveillance and observed, on both September 20th and September 22nd, O’Neal and a co-conspirator engaging in hand-to-hand drug transactions on the streets of Wilkes-Barre out of at least two different residences. On January 16, 2024, agents observed O’Neal engage in a third transaction out of one of the residences. On February 7, 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant, wherein  O’Neal was present and taken into custody. Law enforcement recovered a trafficking amount of crack cocaine, fentanyl and crystal methamphetamine, as well as a loaded Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver and drug paraphernalia.

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.

The case was investigated by the Luzerne County Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Luisa Honora Berti prosecuted the case.

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