PITTSBURGH—Neil Thomas, a/k/a “Menace”, was convicted of conspiring to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Thomas, 30, formerly of Moon Twp. and Imperial, Pa., pled guilty before United States District Judge David S. Cercone. Judge Cercone scheduled sentencing to occur on July 8, 2015, at 11 a.m.

In support of the guilty plea, the Court was informed that Thomas distributed hundreds of grams of heroin to other heroin dealers in Western Pennsylvania during the months leading up to his arrest in October 2013. The Court was also informed that Thomas stored heroin and firearms at his residence in Allegheny County and would meet customers there, sometimes while his children were also at the residence. A loaded Beretta pistol was found during the service of a search warrant at Thomas’s residence on Oct. 17, 2013, in a location that was accessible to children. In addition, the Court was informed that, had the case gone to trial, the prosecution would have presented evidence that Thomas threatened to harm an associate who owed money for heroin and Thomas fired shots into an apartment building in August 2013 where another drug-trafficking associate he was feuding with lived.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of at least 15 years and up to life in prison and a fine of up to $8,250,000.

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

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office led the multi-agency investigation of this case that also included the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Moon Township Police Department, the North Fayette Police Department, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, the Pennsylvania State Police, the McKees Rocks Police Department, the Cranberry Township Police Department, the McKeesport Police Department, and the Wilkinsburg Police Department.