PITTSBURGH - A former resident of Homestead, Pa., has been sentenced in federal court in to 24 years’ incarceration, followed by five years of supervised release, on his conviction of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute over one kilogram of heroin, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Thomas Hopes, 24.
According to information presented to the court, Hopes played a major role in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, and possessed a firearm in the course of the drug trafficking conspiracy. Hopes also possessed with intent to distribute heroin.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Bissoon concluded that Thomas Hopes was responsible for between one and three kilograms of heroin, which she called a poison that he chose to sell on the street for profit.
Assistant United States Attorneys Conor Lamb and Ryan Hart prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, the Munhall Police Department, and the Pennsylvania State Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Thomas Hopes. 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.