Judge Sentences Three-time Convicted Drug Felon to 12+ Years in Prison

PITTSBURGH – Michael S. Frawley was sentenced to 150 months in prison for conspiring to distribute at least 500 grams of cocaine and K2 controlled substances (Schedule I synthetic cannabinoids) while on federal supervised release in 2018, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.

Frawley, age 50, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan. Judge Ranjan sentenced Frawley to 120 months in prison for the conspiracy conviction and to 30 months in prison for the supervised release violation. Judge Ranjan ordered that the prison sentences be served consecutively to each other followed by eight years of supervised release.

Frawley was previously released from a prior federal prison sentence to supervised release in 2018. He secured his release in 2018, 12 months earlier than he was originally set to be released, after stating that he would be "a productive and law-abiding citizen upon his release from incarceration." He then conspired to distribute kilograms of cocaine and Schedule I synthetic cannabinoid controlled substances in 2018 before and after he was released from prison.

This is Frawley’s third federal cocaine-trafficking sentence. He was previously sentenced to federal prison for conspiring to distribute kilograms of cocaine and to launder the proceeds in 2005. He was also previously sentenced to federal prison for conspiring to distribute kilograms of cocaine in 1997.

Assistant United States Attorney Craig W. Haller prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General led the multi-agency investigation that also included the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Beaver County District Attorney’s Office, the Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations, the Pittsburgh Police Department, the United States Marshals Service, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Munhall Police Department, the Robinson Township Police Department, the McKees Rocks Police Department, the Stowe Township Police Department, the Etna Police Department, and the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.

This prosecution is a 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.