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Description: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania criminal law lawyer represented Defendant charged with drug trafficking.
On April 11, 2021, Wallace Smith, Jolie Brown, and Andres Garcia-Grajeda were arrested outside the Hampton Inn in Hanover, Pennsylvania. At the time of the arrests, Smith was wheeling a luggage cart holding bags which contained over 81 kilograms of cocaine and 5 kilograms of fentanyl from his hotel room into Grajeda’s vehicle. A search of Brown’s hotel room discovered over $823,000 in drug proceeds. Smith and Brown had driven the drugs to Adams County from California in a tractor trailer and were dropping them off to Grajeda for distribution.
This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
This case was also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
This case was also brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin and fentanyl. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin and fentanyl 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 and fentanyl related offenses.
The convictions were the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Behe and Scott Ford prosecuted the case.
Violation of 21 U.S.C. 846, which provides:
Any person who attempts or conspires to commit any offense defined in this subchapter shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the attempt or conspiracy.
Outcome: Wallace Smith was sentenced to 63 months’ imprisonment, Brown was sentenced to 70 months’ imprisonment, and Garcia-Grajeda was sentenced to 87 months’ imprisonment. Defendants previously pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms and more of cocaine and 400 grams and more of fentanyl.
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