Upper Dublin woman sentenced for role in drug ring
NORRISTOWN » An Upper Dublin woman will be under court supervision for several years after she admitted to her role in a multi-state methamphetamine and marijuana trafficking ring that utilized the U.S. Postal Service to carry out the drug crimes.
Lorraine Yvonne Zeno, 38, of the 600 block of Ardross Avenue, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Monday to 30 months’ time served on charges of corrupt organizations, possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and marijuana, dealing in proceeds of unlawful acts and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with incidents that occurred between April 2016 and November 2017.
While Zeno, who pleaded guilty to the charges, was given credit for time she has been in jail since 2017 while awaiting court action, with parole and an additional 5-year probationary sentence she will remain under court supervision for several more years.
With the charges, prosecutors alleged Zeno was one of the leaders of the drug trafficking network.
A second leader of the corrupt organization, Brian Justin Holt, 45, who listed addresses along North Redwood Court and along Drayton Circle in Montgomery Township, previously pleaded guilty to similar drug-related charges and was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in state prison.
Leonardo Christian Fernandez,
35, of Monrovia, Calif., one of three California sources of the drug, previously was sentenced to 9 to 18 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to drug-related charges.
Fernandez, Zeno and Holt, authorities said, were part of “The Big Five” involved in the trafficking ring. Two other men from California also were charged in connection with the drug ring.
About a dozen people, some of them customers and subdealers, also were charged during the investigation of the corrupt organization.
At the time of the arrests, District Attorney Kevin R. Steele alleged members of the drug trafficking organization mailed packages of crystal methamphetamine and marijuana, using the U.S. Postal Service, from California to Zeno and Holt in Montgomery County since at least April 2016.
During the joint investigation that involved law enforcement from Pennsylvania, California and New Jersey, authorities identified more than 350 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and marijuana that was sent in multiple shipments, according to court documents. Investigators shut down the organization operating in Pennsylvania and worked their way back to the suppliers in California, according to Steele.
“This investigation again illustrates that law enforcement is united in our fight against deadly drugs of all kinds – heroin, opioids, fentanyl, methamphetamine and pills,” Steele said at the time of the arrests. “All of this poison is killing residents of Montgomery County and other communities in the region and those that traffic this poison need to realize it’s not worth it because we are going to keep investigating, arresting and holding accountable those responsible.”
The cases were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Samantha Thompson.
The investigation began in 2016 when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service identified and intercepted a suspicious parcel being shipped from California to Montgomery County, according to court documents. Investigators alleged the parcel contained about one pound of crystal meth.
Investigators subsequently uncovered cross-country shipments of bulk quantities of methamphetamine and marijuana to members of the Zeno and Holt drug trafficking organization. Authorities said the shipments received were then sold to other drug dealers and individuals in Montgomery and Bucks counties and Philadelphia.
The corrupt organization headed by Zeno and Holt then sent the illegal proceeds for the drugs to those involved in California, according to the criminal complaint.