PITTSBURGH – After deliberating for three hours, a federal jury of five men and seven women found Jamal Knox guilty of Conspiracy to Distribute Forty Grams or More of Fentanyl, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
Jamal Knox, age 28, formerly of Tyler Road, Verona, Pennsylvania, was tried before United States District Judge Marilyn J. Horan in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
According to Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway, who prosecuted the case, the evidence presented at the four-day trial established that Knox was part of a large-scale drug trafficking operation who referred to themselves as Hustlas Don’t Sleep. Knox was a supplier of fentanyl to the drug trafficking organization as revealed through court-authorized intercepted communications, evidence gathered through search warrants, and through witness testimony.
Judge Horan scheduled sentencing for March 28, 2023. The law provides for a total sentence of up to 40 years in prison, a fine of $5,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based on the seriousness of the and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, the Allegheny County Police Department, the Monroeville Police Department, and the Penn Hills Police Department conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Jamal Knox.
This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.