SCRANTON, PA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on February 24, 2021, Miguel Dotel, age 43, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment followed by a four-year term of supervised release by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion for drug trafficking offenses.
According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, from approximately March 2018 through July 2019, Dotel conspired with others to distribute approximately 200 grams of heroin (which is equivalent to approximately 2,000 individual doses) and 250 grams of fentanyl.
The matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and its state and local partners, including the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffery St John prosecuted the case.
This case is 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.