Drug Trafficking Conspirator Sentenced to Life in Prison

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a former Bethlehem man who participated in a Carbon County-based drug trafficking conspiracy was sentenced today to serve life in prison by Senior United States District Court Judge James M. Munley.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, the defendant, Krishna Mote, age 43, was convicted after a three-day jury trial in December 2012 of conspiracy to distribute more than 280 grams of crack cocaine and more than 500 grams of cocaine, and distribution of crack cocaine as an aider and abettor.

Mote was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2011, as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, and local police in Carbon County. The drug conspiracy operated in the Lehighton and Weissport area from late 2005 through April 2007. Evidence presented at trial proved that Mote and his co-conspirators used the residences of several local drug users to distribute crack cocaine and cocaine to numerous customers.

The court noted that Mote’s two prior drug trafficking convictions triggered a federal statute that mandated the imposition of a life sentence. Judge Munley also ordered that Mote pay a $200 special assessment.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.