A fourth Shenandoah man admitted Monday in U.S. District Court in Scranton that he participated in a heroin trafficking ring that operated for almost four years in Schuylkill County.
Nicolai Varga, 27, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin.
Senior U.S. District Judge James M. Munley accepted Varga’s plea, ordered preparation of a presentence investigation and scheduled the defendant’s sentencing for 10 a.m. April 28 in Scranton. Varga faces a mandatory five-year minimum prison term and could spend as long as 40 years behind bars.
A federal grand jury in Scranton indicted Varga on Sept. 8, 2015, as the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police and local law enforcement in Schuylkill County.
Federal prosecutors alleged in the 32-page indictment that Varga not only distributed and transported heroin, but also took other drug dealers on several occasions to New York City, Paterson, New Jersey, and Hazleton in order to obtain large amounts of the drug. Varga transported and delivered between 400 grams and 700 grams, equivalent to between 13,000 and 23,000 retail bags, of heroin, prosecutors said.
The large-scale heroin trafficking ring operated between 2012 and September 2015 in Schuylkill County, according to prosecutors.
Three co-defendants also named in the indictment, Carlos Correa, Paul Jadus and Rhashean Strange, already have pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing. Four other co-defendants are awaiting trial, according to prosecutors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the cases against Varga and his co-defendants.
Prosecutors said they brought the case against Varga as part of an initiative across the Middle District of Pennsylvania to combat the nationwide heroin epidemic. Federal, state and local law enforcement officials are participating in the initiative, according to prosecutors.