The Monroeville-based leader of the Hustlas Don’t Sleep drug gang that preyed on communities across the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh is headed to federal prison for a decade.
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Horan on Thursday imposed that term on Robert Howell Jr., who had pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute heroin, fentanyl and crack.
Howell, 34, was the boss of the network and orchestrated large shipments of drugs from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh for distribution here.
Among the other main players was Che Williams of Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood, who is serving 15 years. Another ring member, Duane Cash of Penn Hills, also got 15 years.
The three were among nearly 20 people indicted in 2019 after an FBI-led wiretap investigation that revealed the ring’s operations in Monroeville, Turtle Creek, Wilkinsburg and McKeesport.
The investigation began in 2017 when Monroeville police started gathering information about a drug ring in their jurisdiction. When police saw its scope, federal and local authorities marshaled their forces under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force program.
OCDETF is a Justice Department initiative that assembles resources to go after violent, large-scale drug rings.
Investigators recovered $130,000 in cash during the investigation along with 410 bricks of heroin and fentanyl.
They also seized 21 guns.
Torsten covers the courts for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Reach him at jtorsteno@gmail.com.
