Local Woman Pleads Guilty to Drug Charge
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 14, 2009 |
United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced today, August 14, 2009, that Lindsey Nicole Coccoli, a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh to a violation of the federal drug laws.
Coccoli, age 27, pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Judge Terrence F. McVerry.
In connection with the guilty plea, Assistant United States Attorney Troy Rivetti advised the court that from in or around June 2007, and continuing until in or around August 2008, in the Western District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere, Coccoli conspired with others to acquire and obtain possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge (i.e., by means of fraudulent prescriptions), and to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute quantities of Oxycontin and Percocet, both Schedule II controlled substances, quantities of Vicodin, a Schedule III controlled substance, and quantities of Xanax, a Schedule IV substance.
Judge McVerry scheduled sentencing for November 13, 2009, at 10:30 a.m. The law provides for a total sentence of up to twenty (20) years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Lindsey Nicole Coccoli. Other agencies participating in the investigation include the Pennsylvania State Police, the District Attorney’s Office - Violent Crimes/Firearms Task Force, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department, the Allegheny County Police Department, the Allegheny County Adult Probation, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, the West Mifflin Police Department, the Coraopolis Police Department, the Jefferson Hills Police Department, the Mount Lebanon Police Department, and the Pennsylvania State Parole.