Schuylkill man sentenced for heroin trafficking

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Derek Yashinsky, 29, of Shenandoah was sentenced on June 26 by Senior U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley to 28 months imprisonment followed by two years on supervised release, for his role in a heroin trafficking conspiracy.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the defendant previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin.

Yashinsky admitted to distributing heroin and transporting other drug traffickers to Patterson, New Jersey, and Hazleton to obtain large quantities of heroin on multiple occasions.

Yashinsky was involved in transporting and distributing between 400 grams and 700 grams of heroin, which is equivalent to between than 16,000 and 28,000 retail bags of heroin. Yashinsky was one of 11 people charged in the investigation.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, and local police in Schuylkill County.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa prosecuted the case.

This case was also brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin.

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 people who commit heroin related offenses.