First Defendant in DS-44 Drug Gang Case Sentenced

PITTSBURGH, PA –A former resident of Hundred, West Virginia was sentenced in federal court to time served, plus three years of supervised release, on his conviction of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

United States District Judge William S. Stickman, IV imposed sentence on Michael Broglie, 51.  Mr. Broglie is the first of 36 defendants to be sentenced in connection with this large-scale drug trafficking case, investigated by the Greater Pittsburgh Safe Streets Task Force.

According to information presented to the Court, in 2017, the Greater Pittsburgh Safe Streets Task Force initiated an investigation primarily targeting the Darccide/Smash 44, or DS44, neighborhood gang, and its drug-trafficking activity, in and around the South Side area of Pittsburgh. As part of this large-scale narcotics and firearms investigation, in February of 2019, the United States received authorization to conduct a federal wire investigation, which continued through June of 2019.

The court was further advised that Mr. Broglie purchased distribution-level quantities of heroin and fentanyl from his co-conspirator, Ronald Williams, and re-distributed the drugs to other people. Broglie has been detained in federal custody since July 10, 2019.

Assistant United States Attorney Christy C. Wiegand prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the multi-agency investigation of this case, which also included the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, Allegheny County Adult Probation, Allegheny County Police Department, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Narcotics, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, and the Wilkinsburg Police Department. Other assisting agencies include the Green Tree Police Department, New York City Police Department, Mount Oliver Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, Yonkers Police Department, United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force, and the United States Postal Inspection Service.

The investigation was funded by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises