After pleading guilty to numerous drug crimes last fall, a Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison for his role in an alleged bi-coastal drug ring. The defendant is accused of working with at least one other person to arrange shipments of cocaine and methamphetamine from Los Angeles and Phoenix to Pennsylvania in 2005 and 2006.

According to court documents, the alleged drug trafficking ring began when the defendant and a co-conspirator arranged to ship packages of money to an unnamed home in Los Angeles in December of 2005. Then, the men traveled to Los Angeles to retrieve the money, and then drove to Phoenix where they used the money to purchase the drugs.

In one instance, court records say, the men prepared and shipped 22 pounds of cocaine from Phoenix to Pennsylvania. They evaded law enforcement detection by packaging the drugs in candle jars and covering them with wax prior to shipping, police say. Both men also carried handguns for protection during the perpetration of the alleged trafficking scheme, which is believed to have ended in October of 2006.

The men were arrested in January 2008, and have remained in federal police custody ever since. In October, the 28-year-old defendant pleaded guilty in a Philadelphia federal court to conspiracy to possess and distribute controlled substances, attempted possession of controlled substances and possession of a firearm in a drug trafficking scheme. He was sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison.

The co-conspirator has also pleaded guilty, and will be sentenced in the coming weeks.

Source: The Morning Call, "Man sentenced in Phoenix-to-Easton drug ring," Peter Hall, 2 June 2011