Scranton Man Sentenced To 41 Months’ Imprisonment For Conspiracy To Distribute Bath Salts

SCRANTON—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Kevin Peterson, age 36, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 41 months’ imprisonment followed by three years on supervised release on August 25, 2020, by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion for participating in a conspiracy to distribute alpha-pvp, commonly known as “bath salts.”

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Peterson admitted to agreeing with others to distribute the drug to customers in the Luzerne County area during 2014 and 2015. The members of the conspiracy obtained the alpha-pvp from suppliers in China.

Peterson was one of seven people charged by a grand jury in August 2016. That indictment was the fourth wave of arrests connected to alpha-pvp distribution in Luzerne County. In all, 18 people have been charged in the case since July 2013, including the Texas-based suppliers of the bath salts. All of the defendants have entered guilty pleas in the case.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, United States Postal Inspectors, the Drug Enforcement Administration, members of the Pennsylvania State Police, and local police from Luzerne County. Assistant United States 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.

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