WILLIAMSPORT – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Ryan Joel King, age 40, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 96 months’ imprisonment by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Matthew W. Brann for drug trafficking. According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, on November 9, 2021, King entered a guilty plea to possessing methamphetamine and LSD with the intent to distribute them to others. King was the subject of an investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police and was found with 286 grams of methamphetamine, nearly 2 grams of liquid LSD, and drug paraphernalia. King also possessed a .22 caliber handgun in connection with the drug offense which led to a sentencing enhancement.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey W. MacArthur prosecuted the case.
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