Pocono man faces 20 years for fentanyl delivery resulting in death
A Monroe County man has been sentenced to to 20 years prison time for distributing fentanyl which led to the death of a New Jersey man.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Tuesday Matthew Luce, also known as "Luck," 36, was sentenced to 240 months imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion for the distribution of fentanyl resulting in death.
Luce was also sentenced to 188 months prison time on a separate drug trafficking conspiracy case, with the sentences to run concurrently.
According to United States District Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Luce knowingly and intentionally distributed an unspecified quantity of fentanyl to a 36-year-old Clinton, New Jersey man within the Middle District of Pennsylvania, resulting in his death on Feb. 6, 2021.
Related:Poconos man pleads guilty to fentanyl delivery resulting in death of NJ resident
Recent case:Monroe County man and NJ co-conspirator sentenced in drug delivery death
Luce was also responsible for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over 50 grams of methamphetamine and 100 grams of heroin. Luce had previously pleaded guilty to both charges.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Monroe County District Attorney's Office, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office, the Clinton Police Department, the Stroud Area Regional Police Department, and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney James M. Buchanan prosecuted the case
According to the DOJ, the case was brought forth as a part of a district-wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic of the distribution and use of heroin and fentanyl. Led by the U.S. District Attorney's Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, utilizing federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend and prosecute those who commit heroin-related offenses.
The case was also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program which brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence.
Statistics from the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania show Monroe County hit a peak of drug delivery resulting in death in 2020 with 31 offenses filed that year. Between 2017 and 2021, Monroe County saw 82 such charges, exceeded only by Lancaster and York counties, which saw 132 and 117 charges respectively within the same time frame.
Fentanyl rapidly replaces heroin in PA
In a report released by former attorney general-turned Governor Josh Shapiro in May 2022, fentanyl has become an even greater problem than heroin in the Keystone State, with the Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation regions seizing more than double the amount of fentanyl than heroin in 2021. Within the first quarter of 2022, the BNI seized approximately 40 times the amount of fentanyl as compared to heroin — even more than was seized in the entirety of the previous year.
According to the report, overdose deaths rose by 16.4% in 2020, and continued rising to 5,438 reported overdose deaths in 2021 — a 6% increase from the prior year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, which are increasingly found in counterfeit pills, were "some of the primary drivers of the increase in overdose deaths in the last several years."
The DEA notes that as little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal, while analysis of counterfeit pills found a range of 0.02 to 5.1 milligrams of the synthetic opioid in the pills.
“Fentanyl has rapidly replaced heroin as the dominant opioid in Pennsylvania. Last year, our Bureau of Narcotics Investigation seized more fentanyl than they had in the last four years combined. The rise in fentanyl has also contributed to a rise in overdose deaths. Last year, we lost 15 Pennsylvanians each and every day to a drug overdose. Law enforcement and policymakers alike must continue to do more to combat this crisis and devote additional resources to stopping fentanyl at the Southern border,” Shapiro said.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Pocono man faces 20 years for fentanyl delivery resulting in death
