Victor Tello Pleads Guilty to Heroin Trafficking in Poconos

Victor Tello, a 25-year-old from Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, stood silently in a Scranton federal courtroom today as he admitted to fueling the region’s heroin epidemic by distributing hundreds of street doses in late 2013. Tello pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion to one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin—an offense that carries a federal maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine, and years of supervised release.

According to prosecutors, Tello sold between 40 and 60 grams of heroin—amounting to an estimated 1,300 to 2,200 individual retail bags—across Monroe County during a two-month crime spree in November and December 2013. Each bag, sold for street profit, carried the potential to destroy lives. U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler did not mince words: ‘This is not victimless crime. This is poison peddling.’

The case unfolded through a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Pennsylvania State Police, Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, and Pocono Mountain Regional Police. The collaboration is part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s district-wide Heroin Initiative, a relentless crackdown targeting traffickers who exploit addiction for profit across the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa, who is prosecuting the case, emphasized that Tello’s actions fed into a deadly cycle that has ravaged rural communities, strained emergency services, and overloaded courts. ‘Every gram sold is a threat to public safety,’ Sempa said. ‘We’re holding these dealers accountable from the bottom to the top of the supply chain.’

Now, Tello waits for sentencing, which remains unscheduled pending completion of a pre-sentence report. While the statutory maximum looms, federal judges must weigh numerous factors under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines—including the defendant’s criminal history, the severity of the offense, and the need for deterrence and public protection.

The message from federal authorities is clear: the trafficking of heroin, no matter the scale, will be met with full federal force. Tello’s guilty plea is the latest conviction in a broader campaign to dismantle networks that profit from addiction—one arrest, one courtroom, one shattered dealer at a time.