Former Gang Member Sentenced To Seven Years’ Imprisonment For Drug Trafficking

 SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Arthur Taylor, age 38, was sentenced on December 2, 2020, to seven years’ imprisonment followed by four years on supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion, for his involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Taylor previously pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin (which is equivalent to more than 4,000 retail bags) between 2010 and 2015, in Pennsylvania and Maine.

Taylor’s conviction and sentence resulted from an investigation into the activities of a street gang known as the Black P-Stones. The male gang members were “beaten-in” to the gang and female members were “sexed-in” to the gang. The members of the Black P-Stones obtained heroin and other drugs, including heroin and “molly,” in New York and distributed the drugs in Stroudsburg and locations in the state of Maine. Couriers were used to transport heroin from New York to Maine.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, members of the Pennsylvania State Police, state and local police in Maine, the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, and local police in Monroe County.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa prosecuted the case.

This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).  OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

This case is 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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

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 United States 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 agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.