The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced this week that Jeremy Edward Johnson, 31, and Susan Melissa Nickas, 47, both of Stroudsburg, were found guilty of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl, resulting in the death of a person.

The verdict came after an eight-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, jurors deliberated for approximately two hours before rendering guilty verdicts against Johnson and Nickas for the Dec. 11, 2020, death of a 32-year-old Monroe County man.

Both Johnson and Nickas were also found guilty of aiding and abetting each other in a Dec. 10, 2020, distribution of heroin and fentanyl, resulting in that death.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office presented the testimony of multiple witnesses, including Dr. Michael Coyer, a forensic toxicologist, who said that death resulted from the use of heroin and fentanyl; and a PSP forensic chemist.

Additional testimony was provided by officers and detectives from the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office; the Pennsylvania State Police; the Pocono Township Police Department, the FBI – Scranton Office; and an FBI special agent from the Pittsburgh Office.

The charges stem from a joint investigation involving the FBI in Scranton, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office.

Assistant United States Attorneys Michelle Olshefski and Sean Camoni 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 and fentanyl.

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 individuals who commit heroin related offenses.

This case was also part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.

The maximum penalty under federal law is life in prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.

Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the judge is also weighs a number of factors, including the nature and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs.