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SCRANTON — A former Pittston resident was convicted of conspiracy Thursday for his participation in a drug trafficking ring, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
A jury returned a guilty verdict for Evans Samuel Santos Diaz, 26, after three-and-a-half hours of deliberation following a two-day trial in Scranton before U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion.
The jury further found the conspiracy involved heroin, cocaine, and cocaine base, or crack.
According to U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, the drug trafficking ring distributed more than 100 grams of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine. One hundred grams of heroin is equivalent to more than 4,000 individual doses.
Santos Diaz was convicted as a result of a two-month investigation that included the use of a wiretap to intercept telephone calls and text messages between the conspirators. He was the sixth and final individual charged in this conspiracy to be convicted, Brandler said in a news release.
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre police departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evan Gotlob and Sean Camoni prosecuted the case.
This 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 U.S. 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 to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who commit heroin-related offenses.
Others convicted in the case were Jeffrey Guzman, Landy Then, Magdalena Alvarez, Richard Chalmers and Louis Bracey.