Drug dealer sentenced to up to 19 years in prison after raid on Bethlehem-area hotel

An Allentown man was sentenced to up to 19 years in prison after a 2022 drug raid that resulted in various drugs being seized and an officer injured at a Bethlehem-area hotel, the Northampton County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday.

Steven Guerrero, 33, of North Kiowa Street, was sentenced Monday in Northampton County Court of Common Pleas to 19 years in prison.

He pleaded guilty to cocaine possession in May. He was also found guilty after a jury trial of additional counts of criminal possession with intent to deliver drugs, criminal use of a communications facility, misdemeanor resisting arrest and other drug offenses.

According to court records, Guerrero was found not guilty of two counts of aggravated assault. Palmer Township-based attorney Matthew C. Potts, who represented Guerrero, could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday morning.

The charges are in connection with the sting operation on October 6, 2022 at 9 p.m. in Hanover Township, Northampton County, which resulted in the seizure of methamphetamine, cocaine and oxycodone.

Colonial Regional Police and the Northampton County Drug Task Force observed the purchase of methamphetamine by an informant from Guerrero.

When officers tried to arrest Guerrero, he tried to flee by putting the car in reverse, police said. According to police, Guerrero then crashed into an undercover police vehicle and also ran over an officer's foot, pinning him between two vehicles.

Investigators said they removed Guerrero from the vehicle and he continued to resist arrest.

According to court documents, investigators found about an ounce of meth in plain sight in the passenger seat and nearly 4.36 pounds of cocaine on the floor where Guerrero was taken into custody.

In addition, investigators confiscated $428 in cash from Guerrero, and when officers called the phone number used to make the drug purchase, the doorbell rang on the driver's side of the vehicle Guerrero was driving, according to police.

Co-defendant and passenger in the car, Mohmed M. Attia, 33, of North Gilmore Street in Allentown, was also arrested and charged with misdemeanor drug possession with intent to deliver.

Police could see a crystalline substance protruding from a bag, which officers observed was in plain sight as they removed Attia from the car, court records say. That was suspected to be the ounce of meth in the police-monitored purchase, according to the affidavit that cited Attia as probable cause for the charges.

Attia was sentenced to five years probation in May. Easton-based attorney Steven Richard Mills, who represents Attia, could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday morning.

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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann can be reached at [email protected].