Glenshaw Cocaine Dealer is First to be Sentenced in Pittsburgh Safe Streets Task Force Investigation

PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court to a charge of violating federal narcotics trafficking laws, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.

David Pietropaolo, 23, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release before United States District Judge Robert J. Colville.

In conjunction with the sentencing hearing, the Court was informed that the Greater Pittsburgh Safe Streets Task Force, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, conducted a long-term investigation into drug-trafficking activity occurring in the Western District of Pennsylvania. Law enforcement identified several individuals, suspected at the time, of illegally distributing controlled substances, including heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine in Allegheny, Westmoreland, Erie, Fayette, and Washington Counties.
Beginning in August of 2020 and continuing through November 2020, the FBI conducted a federal Title III investigation, which resulted in the interception of thousands of wire and electronic communications over a total of ten telephones. Three of the intercepted telephones were used by Mr. Pietropaolo’s co-defendant, Anthony Peluso, to further his illegal drug trafficking activity. Investigators identified Mr. Peluso as a long-time heroin and cocaine trafficker and source of supply for low to mid-level drug traffickers in this District. One of the individuals intercepted over Mr. Peluso’s telephones was the defendant, David Pietropaolo. Investigators identified that Pietropaolo regularly obtained ounce quantities of cocaine that he then redistributed.

As a result of this investigation, to-date, 38 individuals have been charged across four related Indictments. Pietropaolo is the first defendant to be sentenced.

At sentencing, Judge Colville denied defendant’s request to be sentenced below the guideline range, imposing a sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment, which falls at the low end of the guideline range of 18-24 months.

Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca L. Silinski is prosecuting these cases on behalf of the government.

Acting United States Attorney Kaufman commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation who led the multi-agency investigation of this case, which also included the United States Postal Inspection Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigations. Other assisting agencies include the Allegheny County Police Department Homicide, Baldwin Police Department, Brentwood Police Department, McKees Rocks Police Department, Stowe Township Police Department and West Deer Township Police Department, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Pietropaolo.

This sentencing was the result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.