The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 37-year-old Hazleton man pleaded guilty on March 31, 2015, before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik in Scranton, to participating in a heroin and cocaine trafficking conspiracy during 2013.

According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the defendant, Willy Perez, admitted that he conspired with others to distribute the drugs. FBI agents and Scranton Police seized approximately 2,000 bags of heroin from Perez during the investigation.

Perez was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2014, as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office and Scranton Police.

Perez faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Judge Kosik ordered a pre-sentence investigation to be completed. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.