Two Ohio residents have been sentenced in federal court for their involvement in a drug trafficking operation that spanned Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to First Assistant United States Attorney Troy Rivetti. The sentences were handed down by United States District Judge Marilyn J. Horan.
Raheem Hurst, 27, of Garfield Heights, Ohio, received a sentence of five months in prison followed by two years of supervised release on October 15. Torrence Lyde, 36, of Cleveland, Ohio, was sentenced on November 6 to 132 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
Court documents revealed that between December 2022 and March 2023, Hurst conspired with others to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine within the Western District of Pennsylvania. Lyde’s involvement began earlier; from August 2018 through March 2023 he conspired with others to possess with intent to distribute significant amounts of fentanyl (at least 400 grams), cocaine (at least 500 grams), and other substances containing cocaine base. Both defendants were intercepted on a federal wiretap as they obtained drugs for further distribution.
These sentencings are part of a larger case involving a Superseding Indictment unsealed in March 2023 that charged a total of 27 individuals with participation in the cross-state narcotics conspiracy. Of those charged, guilty pleas have been entered by 26 defendants and now sentencing has occurred for 24 individuals.
Assistant United States Attorney Arnold P. Bernard Jr. is prosecuting the case.
First Assistant United States Attorney Rivetti acknowledged the work done by multiple agencies: “First Assistant United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Laurel Highlands Resident Agency; Homeland Security Investigations; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation; United States Postal Inspection Service; and other local law enforcement agencies for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of the defendants.”
