SCRANTON - The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Robert Estes, 41, of Allentown, was sentenced on Aug. 11, 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 in 2016.

According to U.S. 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 districtwide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin.