Damian Julmal Navarro, Drug Trafficking Conspiracy, Pennsylvania 2023

A Luzerne County man has been sentenced to 180 months’ imprisonment for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy. Damian Julmal Navarro, 27, of Kingston, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion on [no date given] in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Navarro pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin/fentanyl and to a second charge of unlawfully possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. This case was one of eleven defendants indicted in May 2020.

Navarro was one of the few co-conspirators who did not plead guilty. Tysheen Gott, a/k/a ‘LB,’ was convicted after trial in August 2021 and is awaiting sentencing.

The investigation, which began a year ago, involved multiple federal wiretaps conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Wilkes-Barre Police Department, the Scranton Police Department, the Pittston City Police Department, the Plymouth Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office, the Wyoming County District Attorney’s Office and the Office of Pennsylvania Attorney General.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle Olshefski and Robert O’Hara prosecuted the case. This case was part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the violent crime reduction efforts.

PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.

The 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.

Navarro’s sentence will be followed by 5 years of supervised release. The charges against him included conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute heroin/fentanyl, as well as possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.

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