Schuylkill County Man Sentenced To 28 Months’ Imprisonment For Role In Heroin Trafficking Conspiracy

SCRANTON—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Derek Yashinsky, age 29, of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on June 26, 2019, by Senior U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley to 28 months’ imprisonment followed by two years on supervised release, for his role in a heroin trafficking conspiracy.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the defendant previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin. Yashinsky admitted to distributing heroin and transporting other drug traffickers to Patterson, New Jersey, and Hazleton to obtain large quantities of heroin on multiple occasions. Yashinsky was involved in transporting and distributing between 400 grams and 700 grams of heroin, which is equivalent to between than 16,000 and 28,000 retail bags of heroin. Yashinsky was one of 11 people charged in the investigation.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, and local police in Schuylkill County. Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa prosecuted the case. 

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

This case was also brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.