The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a couple from Monroe County has been indicted by a federal grand jury on various fentanyl and heroin trafficking charges, including for distributing fentanyl that resulted in the deaths of three people.

Indicted last week were James P. Cullen V, 30, and Michelle L. Ferranti, 31, both of Bartonsville.

According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to distribute fentanyl and heroin between April 2021 and Feb. 27, 2023. Cullen and Ferranti specifically were charged with distributing in excess of 400 grams of fentanyl, which is the equivalent of about 16,000 potentially lethal individual doses of the drug.

The indictment also alleges that Cullen and Ferranti obtained fentanyl and heroin from co-conspirators located in New Jersey, marketed the narcotics on the Dark Web, and then used fabricated names to distribute the narcotics.

Cullen and Ferranti allegedly mailed fentanyl and heroin to nearly every state and to several foreign countries. As a result, it is alleged that three different individuals — one each in Alaska, Georgia and Vermont — overdosed and died from the fentanyl between October 2022 and February 2023. The person in Alaska was a juvenile. In addition, Cullen and Ferranti are charged with distributing fentanyl and heroin on four other occasions between November 2022 and February 2023.

The indictment remained under seal until both defendants were arrested. Cullen and Ferranti remain in custody pending trial.

“These indictments are a testament to the power of the interagency cooperation between HSI (Homeland Security Investigations), the Postal Inspection Service and the Pennsylvania State Police,” said Special Agent in Charge of HSI Philadelphia Edward Owens. “The agents and officers have removed two dangerous drug traffickers from our streets, who were responsible for three overdose deaths across the United States.

“The dismantlement of this drug trafficking organization ensures the safety of the general public. I commend HSI, their law enforcement partners and the prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Pennsylvania for their tireless work on this case.”

The case was also investigated by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Customs and Border Patrol and the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Law enforcement agencies from Vermont, Georgia, Alaska and French Customs also aided the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Luisa H. Berti is prosecuting the case, which is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods and was brought as part of a Middle District-wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin.

Prosecution of the case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces’ investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multiagency approach.

The penalties under federal law for the most serious overdose death charges are a minimum of 20 years and maximum life term of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment and a fine.