SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Darryl Elliott, age 36, of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, Steven Pierro, age 34, of Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, and Heather Carper, age 34, of Northumberland, Pennsylvania, were indicted on September 20, 2022, by a federal grand jury and charged with the distribution of controlled substances resulting in death.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment charges Elliott, Pierro, and Carper of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine within the Middle District of Pennsylvania, resulting in an overdose death that occurred in Lewisburg, Union County.
The charges stem from a joint investigation involving the FBI in Williamsport, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Sunbury Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Olshefski is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin and fentanyl. 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 also 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 maximum penalty under federal law is life in prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature 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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