Kassandra Martin Gets 5 Years for Heroin, Crack, Fentanyl Ring

Wilkes-Barre woman Kassandra Martin, 36, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for her role in a multi-state drug operation that flooded Pennsylvania with heroin, crack cocaine, and fentanyl. On March 2, 2018, U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion handed down the sentence after Martin pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute controlled substances between November 2016 and February 2017.

Martin admitted to shuttling deadly narcotics from New York into Pennsylvania, where she and co-conspirators broke down and redistributed the drugs for street sale. Prosecutors say the quantities involved amounted to over 100 grams of heroin—equivalent to 4,000 potentially fatal doses—and more than 28 grams of crack cocaine, fueling addiction and overdose across the region.

The operation collapsed on February 8, 2017, when state police pulled over the vehicle Martin was riding in. During the stop, authorities seized 18 grams of heroin and 56 grams of crack cocaine from the occupants. Martin was arrested alongside two others, marking a key breakthrough in a broader federal probe.

She was one of 15 individuals indicted in June 2017 in connection with the trafficking ring. Martin is the first defendant in the case to be sentenced, signaling a hard push by federal prosecutors to dismantle organized drug networks in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

The investigation was led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Kingston Police Department, and the Luzerne County Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip J. Caraballo handled the prosecution, framing the case as part of a sustained crackdown on violent drug enterprises.

This prosecution falls under both Project Safe Neighborhoods and the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Heroin Initiative—twin federal efforts aimed at curbing violent crime and halting the deadly flow of opioids. With fentanyl-laced drugs killing at unprecedented rates, authorities say convictions like Martin’s are critical to disrupting supply chains and protecting communities.