Cuban Citizen Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Trafficking Heroin in the New Ken Area

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A former resident of Plum, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 62 months’ imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release on a charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence yesterday on Radames Perez, age 46, and a citizen of Cuba.

According to information presented to the court, a wiretap investigation into drug trafficking in the New Kensington area from January to May 2015 revealed that the defendant was involved in a drug trafficking conspiracy. During the investigation, law enforcement learned that Perez received between 700 and 1000 grams of heroin from a source of supply in New York City, which he later distributed in Western Pennsylvania.

Assistant United States Attorney Shanicka L. Kennedy prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

A federally administered Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) comprised of members drawn from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department, the Baldwin Borough Police Department, the Duquesne Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the Munhall Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the Scott Township Police Department, and the West Homestead Police Department, along with assistance from the City of New Kensington Police Department and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, conducted the investigation leading to the prosecution of Perez. The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.