Jose ‘Sev’ Velazquez Pleads Guilty to Heroin, Sex Trafficking

Jose Velazquez, the 26-year-old Monroe County man known as ‘Sev,’ stood before a federal judge in Scranton today and admitted to running a brutal heroin and sex trafficking ring that stretched from Pennsylvania to Maine. Velazquez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute over 100 grams of heroin — the equivalent of roughly 4,000 street bags — and to sex trafficking by force or coercion, crimes committed between 2012 and 2014.

According to U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Velazquez operated as a key figure in the Black P-Stones, a violent street gang that initiated male members through beatings and women through forced sex. The superseding indictment from October 2016 details how Velazquez and others imported heroin from New York, distributed it across Stroudsburg and into Maine, and used couriers to move drugs across state lines. The operation was both widespread and ruthlessly organized.

The sex trafficking charges reveal an even darker layer. Women were ‘sexed-in’ to the gang by being forced to have sex with multiple male members, then pushed into prostitution. They were drugged with heroin, advertised on escort websites, and shuttled between motels in northeastern Pennsylvania. Threats, violence, and psychological coercion kept them trapped. One woman was systematically exploited under Velazquez’s control, prosecutors say.

Velazquez now faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to life in prison for sex trafficking, plus a five-year mandatory minimum and up to 40 years for the heroin conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion ordered pre-sentence investigations, with sentencing scheduled at a later date.

His co-defendant, Sean Griffin, 22, who used the street name ‘Kritical,’ also pleaded guilty today to participating in the same heroin trafficking conspiracy. Griffin admitted to acting as a sub-distributor for the Black P-Stones, handling between 100 and 400 grams of heroin. He now faces up to 20 years behind bars.

The case was prosecuted under the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s Heroin Initiative and Project Safe Childhood — federal efforts targeting the opioid epidemic and child sexual exploitation. The investigation involved the FBI, Pennsylvania State Police, Maine State Police, Monroe County DA’s Office, and local agencies. Seven defendants were initially indicted in September 2015; Velazquez and Griffin are the latest to admit guilt.