HARRISBURG, Pa. — A New York man has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison after being convicted of interstate travel in aid of drug trafficking and for violating the terms of his supervised release. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced on Wednesday that Marcello Whyte, 40, of Queens, New York, received the sentence on August 21.
Whyte was initially convicted in 2011 for conspiring to distribute between 100 and 400 kilograms of marijuana and was sentenced to 70 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release. Just five months after his release, Whyte was apprehended on March 18, 2016, by Pennsylvania State Police during a traffic stop on I-81. Authorities discovered approximately 249 grams of cocaine in the rented vehicle he was driving from New York to Pennsylvania.
In 2019, Whyte pled guilty to charges related to interstate drug trafficking but remained free pending sentencing. In July 2020, he was arrested again in New York, this time found in possession of a loaded firearm and marijuana. After posting bail, Whyte failed to appear for his federal sentencing and became a fugitive. He remained at large for nearly four years until his arrest on March 23, 2024, in New York on new controlled substance charges.
The charges against Whyte in New York remain pending. The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nationwide initiative aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence through collaboration between law enforcement and communities.