Judge Sentences Heroin Trafficker to 21 Years in Prison

PITTSBURGH—A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been sentenced in federal court for violating federal narcotics trafficking laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Gregory Washington, 36, also known as “Joe,” “Run,” “Rizzy,” and “Illa,” was sentenced to serve 262 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, by United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab. From January 2010 to March 3, 2011, Washington conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin. Washington obtained thousands of grams of raw heroin and then arranged for it to be bagged, bricked, transported, and stored by associates. Washington then supplied the heroin to other significant traffickers and ultimately sold to the users who were hooked on it. Washington did so while he was on state parole after serving 10- to 20-year prison sentences for a drug trafficking-related double murder committed in the 1990s. Washington’s federal sentence was ordered to be served consecutively to any sentence imposed for the violation of his state parole conditions.

Assistant United States Attorney Craig W. Haller prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police; the United States Postal Inspection Service; the Pennsylvania State Police; the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office; the Ross Township Police Department; the Canonsburg Police Department; and the Allegheny County Police Department for the successful investigation leading to the conviction and sentence in this case.