Pittsburgh Woman Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug and Gun Charges

PITTSBURGH - A former resident of Pittsburgh, Pa., pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to charges of violating federal drug and firearm laws, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.

Janay Brown pleaded guilty to four counts before United States District Judge Mark Hornak.

In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that in July of 2016, multiple individuals began overdosing on stamp bags marked “CEO.” A local law enforcement agency arrested an individual with some of these stamp bags and alerted the DEA. That person agreed to cooperate and identified Brown as the source of the heroin and fentanyl. The DEA investigation led to a search warrant which was issued for Brown’s residence. There, federal agents located Brown, over 100 “bricks” of heroin and fentanyl, firearms, ammunition, cellphones and a large amount of cash. Brown had a prior 2009 conviction for Forgery and a prior 2011 conviction for a drug offense. Each of these offenses precluded her from lawfully possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

Judge Hornak scheduled sentencing for November 9, 2017 at 1:30 p.m. The law provides for a total sentence of not less than five years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $2,500,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the and the prior criminal history of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Ross E. Lenhardt is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Brown with valuable assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police and other local police departments.