Luzerne County Man Sentenced For Federal Drug & Firearms Offenses

Saturday, March 22, 2025, 10:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

SCRANTON, PA.- On Thursday, a 31-year-old Hazleton, Pennsylvania, man found out he would be spending a little over the next decade in federal prison after being sentenced for distributing deadly fentanyl while possessing a firearm throughout the Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, area.

     On Thursday, March 20, 2025, Eshawn Harrell, 31, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion to 130 months in federal prison for his previously entered guilty plea to Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl; and Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine; and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.

According To U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus and documents filed with the District Court, on June 29, 2023, during an ongoing illicit narcotics investigation, investigators executed a court-authorized search warrant at Harrell’s Hazleton, Pennsylvania, residence.

     During the search, investigators uncovered and seized around 195 grams of fentanyl, 24 grams of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, including sandwich bags, digital scales, glassine bags, a vacuum sealer, $1,000 in U.S. currency in denominations consistent with drug sales, seven cellular phones, 50 rounds of ammunition, and two loaded handguns.

     At the time of the search, Harrell knew he was prohibited from owning or possessing firearms and ammunition due to a prior felony conviction for drug trafficking offenses.

     The case was brought as part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat and repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational organizations, and protect communities from perpetrators who commit violent crimes.