Daniel Culmer, Crack Cocaine Trafficking and Supervised Release Violation, Pennsylvania 2025

A Johnstown man pleads guilty to trafficking crack cocaine and violating supervised release.

Daniel Culmer, 57, pleaded guilty in federal court on February 6, 2025, to charges of violating federal narcotics laws, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

Culmer was charged with conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute a quantity of a mixture and substance containing cocaine base, in the form commonly known as crack. He was also charged with violating conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction.

In connection with the guilty plea, the Court was advised that, from in and around April 2021 to July 2021, in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Culmer conspired to distribute and possessed with intent to distribute a quantity of a mixture and substance containing cocaine base, in the form commonly known as crack.

Culmer was intercepted on a federal wiretap obtaining quantities of the drug that he distributed to others. At the time of the offense, Culmer was on supervised release from a prior federal conviction in 2018 in the Western District of Pennsylvania for distributing heroin.

Judge Marilyn J. Horan scheduled sentencing for May 29, 2025. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $2 million, or both.

Assistant United States Attorney Maureen Sheehan-Balchon is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Laurel Highlands Resident Agency and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Culmer. Additional agencies participating in this investigation include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Pennsylvania State Police, Cambria County District Attorney’s Office, Indiana County District Attorney’s Office, Cambria County Sheriff’s Office, Cambria Township Police Department, Indiana Borough Police Department, Johnstown Police Department, Upper Yoder Township Police Department, Richland Police Department, Ferndale Police Department, and other local law enforcement agencies.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

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