United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan stated that a former Pittsburgh resident who participated in a massive fentanyl trafficking scheme and associated money laundering crimes has been sentenced to 34 years in prison. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Paris Carter, 35, was sentenced after a federal jury found him guilty of conspiracy to distribute large quantities of fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Evidence presented throughout the trial demonstrated that between January 2017 and February 2018, Carter planned the illicit importation of many kilos of fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl into the Pittsburgh region from China. He then organized distribution in the neighborhood, using the illicit profits to keep up a luxurious lifestyle in Beverly Hills that included renting expensive residences and two Bentleys and a Mercedes Benz.
U.S. Attorney Olshan stressed that Carter’s days of luxury are over in a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, saying, “Today, a federal judge imposed a 34-year prison sentence, an appropriate punishment for a defendant who flooded the Pittsburgh area with kilogram quantities of Chinese-sourced fentanyl.” The sentence serves as a stark warning to anyone considering a career in synthetic opioid trafficking and illustrates the lethal effects of Carter’s drug distribution network.
Prior to imposing his sentence, United States District Judge Marilyn J. Horan considered the seriousness of Carter’s activities and determined that his 34-year sentence should be commensurate with the seriousness of his crimes and their flagrancy. Carter had already served 37 months in jail for possession with intent to distribute heroin in 2011, a major criminal crime in the Western District of Pennsylvania. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States attorneys Brendan J. McKenna and Brendan T. Conway. The United States Postal Inspection Service and several other federal and state law enforcement agencies worked together to successfully prosecute the defendant as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation.
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