SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on June 23, 2021, Charles Gibson, Jr., age 42, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release, by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion, for conspiring to distribute heroin, crack cocaine, and fentanyl.
According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Gibson pleaded guilty to being the head of a drug trafficking organization that distributed kilograms of crack cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl in the Luzerne County region from March 2015 through March 2017. Members of the drug trafficking organization possessed firearms and engaged in acts of violence.
Gibson was charged in June 2017 with 14 other individuals. All of his co-defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced:
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, and by the Kingston Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip J. Caraballo prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been 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 also was 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.
This case was further part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities.
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