The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Matthew Luce, a/k/a “Luck,” age 36, of Effort, pleaded guilty Friday before U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion to distributing fentanyl resulting in death.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Luce admitted that on Feb. 6, 2021, he distributed 10 bags of fentanyl, a Schedule II Controlled Substance, in Effort, Pennsylvania, to a New Jersey man who later used the drugs and was found dead in his home the next morning. The victim’s cause of death was determined to be a fentanyl overdose caused by the drugs distributed by Luce.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Monroe

County District Attorney’s Office, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office (NJ), the Clinton Police Department (NJ), the Stroud Area Regional Police Department, and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney James M. Buchanan is prosecuting the case.