The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Matthew Luce, 36, of Effort, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for distributing fentanyl resulting in death.

U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion also sentenced Luce to 188 months on a separate drug trafficking conspiracy case. The sentences are to run concurrently.

According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, on Feb. 6, 2021, Luce distributed fentanyl within the Middle District of Pennsylvania, resulting in the death of a 36-year-old Clinton, New Jersey man.

Luce was also responsible, between Nov. 26, 2020, until the date of his arrest on Feb. 23, 2021, for conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and 100 grams of heroin.

Luce had previously pleaded guilty to both charges.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, the Hunterdon County (N.J.) Prosecutor’s Office, the Clinton Police Department (N.J.), the Stroud Area Regional Police Department, and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney James M. Buchanan prosecuted the case.

The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, 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.