Teenage Dealer of Deadly Drugs Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison

PITTSBURGH – A teenage resident of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 60 months imprisonment, followed by three years supervised release, on a charge of violating federal drug laws. The Court also ordered Tristin Bradley Axton, 19, of Greensburg, to pay $8,120.00 for the funeral expenses of the victim, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

According to information presented to the Court, while Axton was a juvenile, he sold opiates that caused the death of victim Anthony Terrant on August 16, 2015. On September 20, 2016, when Axton was barely 18, federal law enforcement officers apprehended Axton in the middle of selling 50 stamp bags of heroin and he was also found to possess additional amounts of heroin and three cellphones. In court, Axton specifically admitted to selling the drugs which caused Mr. Terrant’s death.

United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon noted the "very serious nature of this offense" when imposing the sentence on Axton. The Judge ordered that 50% of Axton’s prison salary and, after his release from federal prison, a minimum of 10% of his gross earnings be set aside to pay his debt to the victim’s family for the victim’s funeral expenses.

Assistant United States Attorneys Ross E. Lenhardt, of the Violent Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Brady commended the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Washington County Drug Task Force, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, and local police departments including the Canonsburg Police Department, the Charleroi Police Department, the Rostraver Township Police Department and the Monessen Police Department, as well as the Washington County Coroner’s Office and the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Axton.