Department of Justice

SCRANTON—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Stephani Taylor, age 26, of Plymouth, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on February 1, 2019, to using a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime before U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Taylor admitted to stealing firearms and exchanging them for bundles of heroin between December 2016 and September 2017, in Luzerne County.

Taylor’s codefendant, Michael Wilson, pleaded guilty on January 30, 2019, to distributing heroin and unlawfully possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.

The case was investigated by special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the Kingston Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.

Judge Mannion ordered a presentence investigation to be completed. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.

This case is also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

This case was also brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.

The maximum penalty under federal law is life imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine for using or possessing a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking offense. There is also a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment for the firearms charge. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

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