New York Man Sentenced To Seven Years For Interstate Travel In Aid Of Drug Trafficking And Violating His Supervised Release Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania Dateline: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Date: 22 August 2024 Subjects: American Government , Crime Topic: Interstate Highway System

HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Marcello Whyte, age 40, of Queens, New York, was sentenced on August 21, 2024, to five years imprisonment for interstate travel in aid of drug trafficking and an additional two years of imprisonment for violating the terms of his supervised release on his prior federal drug conviction.

According to United States Attorney Gerard Karam, Whyte was convicted in federal court in 2011 for conspiring to distribute between 100 and 400 kilograms of marijana and sentenced to serve 70 months’ imprisonment to be followed by four years of supervised release. Approximately five months after his release from federal prison, and while on supervised release, Whyte was stopped on March 18, 2016, by Pennsylvania State Police Troopers on I-81 driving a rented vehicle from New York to Pennsylvania. Troopers recovered approximately 249 grams of cocaine inside the vehicle and Whyte pled guilty to interstate transportation in and of drug trafficking in 2019 and remained free pending sentencing. In July 2020, Whyte was arrested in New York and found to be in possession of a loaded firearm and marijuana. Whyte posted bail for that offense but failed to appear for his federal sentencing. He remained a fugitive for approximately four years, until March 23, 2024, when he was arrested in New York and charged with controlled substance offenses. The New York charges remain pending.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The case was investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police and the Drug Enforcement Agency and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William Behe and Assistant United States Attorney Bruce Brandler.   

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Updated August 22, 2024