Shaler dealer first in drug ring sentenced

The first defendant among a group of nearly 40 Pagan bikers and various associates accused of dealing drugs across the region was sentenced this week to federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Robert Colville on Tuesday imposed a term of 18 months on David Pietropaolo, 23, an electrician from Shaler.

Prosecutors said wiretaps revealed that Pietropaolo bought cocaine from Anthony Peluso, of Hampton, a lead defendant in one of a series of indictments brought last year after an investigation by an FBI task force targeting narcotics trafficking in Allegheny, Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington and Erie counties.

From August through November 2020, the FBI intercepted thousands of wire and electronic communications involving 10 cellphones. Three were used by Mr. Peluso, identified by agents as a longtime heroin and cocaine trafficker and a source to other dealers from his Hampton home.

One of the contacts intercepted on the phones was Pietropaolo, who bought cocaine from Peluso for redistribution.

In one transaction, for example, Mr. Peluso was in the hospital in September 2020 for

surgery on his leg and Pietropaolo arranged to buy five ounces of cocaine, later changed to four, for $3,800. Mr. Peluso couldn’t make the deal in person, so his girlfriend, Marissa Botta, met Pietropaolo to deliver the cocaine, according to a government sentencing memo.

Later that day, intercepts revealed Pietropaolo complaining to Mr. Peluso about the poor quality of the cocaine.

At other times, Pietropaolo met with Mr. Peluso outside of Mr. Peluso’s sister’s house and at Mr. Peluso’s apartment on Hunter’s Circle, where Mr. Peluso met other drug customers, prosecutors said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Silinski said the government would have proved that Pietropaolo was responsible for the sale or distribution of some 231 grams of cocaine.

Pietropaolo’s lawyer, Ryan Smith, argued for house arrest. He said Pietropaolo was raised in difficult circumstances; his bodybuilder father abused him and his mother was a heavy drinker and prescription pill addict. Mr. Smith also said his client was not a major player in the drug network and has maintained steady work as an electrician at RBK Electric in Carnegie since 2018.

“He was a low-level participant who used much of the cocaine he purchased,” Mr. Smith said in sentencing papers. “In fact, he had to stay employed as an electrician throughout the entirety of the conspiracy to make enough money to support himself. He was not getting rich selling drugs. He was not even making a livable wage from any of his criminal conduct.”

The judge rejected the request for leniency but gave Pietropaolo a sentence at the low end of the 18- to 24-month range.

The FBI investigation has so far resulted in the indictment of 38 people.

Cases against Mr. Peluso and Ms. Botta are pending.