The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion sentenced David Sandoval, 21, of Anaheim, California, to 60 months’ imprisonment and a 5-year term of supervised release, for his participation in a drug trafficking organization.

The organization moved large quantities of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine from California to various major Midwest and East Coast cities.

According to U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus, on Jan. 28, 2019, while en route to a drug exchange in Pottsville, Sandoval was arrested and found to be in possession of two large duffel bags containing approximately 3 kilograms of heroin. Further investigation revealed that Sandoval, a courier for the drug trafficking organization, had made numerous prior trips from California to major East Coast cities such as New York and Boston, each time transporting a significant quantity of controlled substances, which he would then pass on to co-conspirators in those cities for local distribution.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffery St. John. The case 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.