George Felts, Methamphetamine Trafficking, Pennsylvania 2019

A North Philadelphia gang leader has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for his role in a large-scale drug trafficking operation.

George Felts, 33, was handed the lengthy sentence by United States District Court Judge C. Darnell Jones. In addition to the prison time, Felts will also serve five years of supervised release.

The charges against Felts stem from his leadership role in a drug trafficking organization that shipped hundreds of pounds of narcotics, including methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl, from California to Philadelphia via United States mail between early 2016 and November 2017.

To obtain the narcotics, Felts and other members of the organization would fly from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to purchase the drugs directly from a source in California. They would then conceal large amounts of cash between clothing packed in their carry-on luggage.

After purchasing the drugs, members of the organization would ship the narcotics in boxes addressed to businesses in the Feltonville neighborhood of North Philadelphia, and then coordinate the delivery of the drugs to various locations, where they would be prepared for distribution.

'Felts and other members of this drug organization pumped huge quantities of highly toxic and often deadly drugs into our community,' said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams. 'Simply put, drug trafficking delivers destruction to our neighborhoods.'

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of the Philadelphia Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nancy Beam Winter.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edpa/pr/leader-north-philadelphia-drug-gang-sentenced-sixteen-years-prison