Indiana man pleads guilty in 2023 drug trafficking case | State

An Indiana man has pleaded guilty in federal court to violating federal drug laws, U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced Wednesday.

Lamar Johnson, 42, pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson as part of Operation Lake Effect, a large-scale investigation into nationwide drug activity that began in Indiana and spread across the United States and Mexico.

“This operation, which began with an investigation in Indiana, evolved into an investigation that resulted in, among other things, the seizure of over two million fentanyl pills,” Indiana County District Attorney Robert F. Manzi Jr. said in March 2023.

Johnson was one of 25 people from Pennsylvania and Ohio who were charged in 2023 as a result of the investigation.

Olshan said Johnson planned to distribute and possessed with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, a certain amount of heroin and a certain amount of crack cocaine between August 2018 and March 2023.

Law enforcement intercepted Johnson during a wiretap and seized quantities of the drugs he distributed to others.

Following the guilty plea, Judge Gibson sentenced Johnson to 60 months in prison, followed by four years of probation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold P. Bernard Jr. is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.

The FBI's Laurel Highlands Resident Agency and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation that led to Johnson's prosecution.

Other agencies involved in the investigation include the Internal Revenue Service (Criminal Investigation), the United States Postal Inspection Service, and other local law enforcement agencies such as the Indiana, Clymer, and Cherry Tree county police departments, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Indiana County Sheriff's Office, the State Attorney's Office's Probation Department and Detective Bureau, the Indiana County Drug Task Force, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.

This prosecution is part of an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF).

OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a multi-agency, prosecutorial- and intelligence-led approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement against criminal networks.

“A great partnership with local, state and federal law enforcement has stopped a major drug trafficking operation,” Manzi said in 2023. “(It) is a great victory for members of our community.”

Editor Patrick Cloonan contributed to this story.