The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Robert Estes, 41, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was sentenced Friday to 20 years' imprisonment by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion for his role in a heroin and methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy that operated in Carbon County and elsewhere, during 2016.

According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Estes previously pleaded guilty and admitted to being a manager and supervisor of the conspiracy that was responsible for distributing between one and three kilograms of heroin (which is equivalent to between 40,000 and 120,000 retail bags of heroin), and between 350 and 500 grams of methamphetamine, in the Carbon County area during early 2016 through June 2016.Judge Mannion also ordered Estes to serve four years on supervised release following his prison sentence.Estes was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2016, as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pennsylvania State Police, and Allentown Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa prosecuted the case.This case was brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney's Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute people who commit heroin related offenses.