Georgia Man Sentenced to Nearly Six Years in Prison for Cocaine Distribution Conviction

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A resident of Atlanta, Georgia, has been sentenced in federal court to 71 months of incarceration, to be followed by four years of supervised release, for his conviction on charges of conspiring to distribute and distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Gerard Riley, 52.

According to information presented to the Court, Riley conspired with others to distribute kilograms of cocaine to co-defendants in the Western District of Pennsylvania and to transmit the proceeds from the sale of that cocaine to another co-defendant. This included 10 kilograms of cocaine that Riley delivered to a co-defendant on September 27, 2021, which later that same day were seized by the DEA after execution of a search warrant.

Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Bissoon stated that the defendant participated in a very serious crime and that his sentence was meant to reflect the serious nature of the case.

Assistant United States Attorney Katherine C. Jordan prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Olshan commended the Drug Enforcement Administration for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Riley.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.