Pittsburgh Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Cocaine and Heroin Offenses

PITTSBURGH, Pa.- A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 120 months of imprisonment, to be followed by four years of supervised release, on his conviction of violating federal narcotics laws, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

United States District Judge W. Scott Hardy imposed the sentence on James Patrick Lewis Jr., 31.

According to information presented to the Court, from September 21, 2020, to February 4, 2021, Lewis conspired with others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and 500 grams or more of cocaine. During the course of the investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, a confidential source made six controlled purchases of heroin/fentanyl from Lewis, each of which occurred in the area of the defendant’s residence/stash house. Search warrants were then executed, and agents recovered over 900 grams of cocaine, 36 grams of heroin, oxycodone pills, bulk marijuana, a money counter, over $12,000, three firearms (including a polymer frame firearm, commonly referred to as a “ghost gun”), and loaded magazines. A loaded firearm also was recovered from the center console of Lewis’s vehicle.

Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Hardy stated that the defendant had a significant criminal history for his relative youth and needed to reverse the course of his life and refrain from committing further crimes.

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 Lewis.

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.