Three Wilkes-Barre Men Indicted For Drug Trafficking

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Dwayne Romail Brown, age 38, Michael Rinaldi, age 41, and Andrew Henry, age 44, all of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, were indicted on August 21, 2018, by a federal grand jury on drug trafficking charges.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the indictment alleges that Brown, Rinaldi and Henry conspired to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute over 500 grams of cocaine between May and August 2018, in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. 

The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean A. Camoni.

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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

Indictments are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

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.

The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 40 years of imprisonment, 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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