Ohio Man Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison For Trafficking Cocaine and Heroin

PITTSBURGH - A resident of Cleveland, Ohio, pled guilty and was sentenced in federal court to 13 years’ imprisonment on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute heroin Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.

United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak took the guilty pleas and imposed the sentence on Lionel Cannon, 52, of Cleveland, OH.

According to information presented to the court, in 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies joined forces in a multi-agency wiretap investigation of drug trafficking and violence in the Homewood section of Pittsburgh. The government had wiretaps on three of Lionel Cannon’s phones, and Cannon was intercepted over the wire conspiring with others to possess with intent to distribute and distribute cocaine, which was shipped from California to the Western District of Pennsylvania through the United States Postal Service or commercial carrier. He also possessed with intent to distribute heroin, which he obtained in Ohio and transported to the Western District of Pennsylvania for further distribution.

Assistant United States Attorneys Tonya Sulia Goodman and Caitlin Loughran prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

Acting U.S. Attorney Song commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Greater Pittsburgh Safe Streets Task Force, Wilkinsburg Police Department, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Munhall Police Department, Duquesne Police Department, Monroeville Police Department, Allegheny County Police Department, West Mifflin Police Department, Bellevue Police Department, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Long Beach Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Cannon.