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Hazleton City Man Sentenced For Federal Drug Trafficking Offenses

Saturday, September 13, 2025, 6:30 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

SCRANTON, PA.- Last Friday, a 37-year-old Hazleton, Pennsylvania, man and a local drug dealer learned he would be spending the next two decades in federal prison, after being sentenced for possessing and distributing large quantities of illicit narcotics throughout the Middle District of Pennsylvania, specifically the Hazleton, Pennsylvania, area.

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus, on Friday, September 5, 2025, Hector Alvarez, 37, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion to 240 months in federal prison, to be followed by a term of supervised release for Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances, Methamphetamine, Fentanyl, and Cocaine.

According To Court Documents

     According to documents and statements made in the District Court, on February 3, 2022, during an investigation into Alvarez’s illicit narcotics distribution activities, Investigators with the Hazleton City Police Department, along with the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, set up stationary surveillance at a residence located in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania.

     During the surveillance, on that date, Investigators observed Alvarez exit the residence carrying a grocery bag. Investigators followed Alvarez as he drove away and witnessed him throw the grocery bag into a garbage can from the window of his vehicle. Investigators quickly retrieved the bag and recovered numerous empty vacuum-sealed bags consistent with packaging kilogram quantities of methamphetamine.

     Following the retrieval of the garbage bag, Investigators attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Alvarez, but Alvarez failed to stop and drove to his residence located on McKinley Street in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Alvarez fled from his vehicle but was eventually caught and arrested by Investigators and Police Officers after a brief foot pursuit. Investigators located a box that Alvarez had tossed during the foot pursuit and uncovered 600 glassine single-dose packets of fentanyl.

     Investigators seized additional glassine single-dose packets of fentanyl stamped with the same markings as the fentanyl from Alvarez’s vehicle. Investigators and Police Officers executed a court-authorized search warrant at Alvarez’s Hazle Township residence and located and seized 26 kilograms of pure methamphetamine, 90 grams of fentanyl, and 37 grams of crack cocaine from inside the home.  

     Acting U.S. Attorney Gurganus commended the investigative work of the Hazleton City Police Department, the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which led to the successful prosecution of Alvarez.

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Art Fletcher
Art Fletcher
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