Three veteran drug deliverymen have been sentenced to over 16 years imprisonment after operating a local drug delivery operation for at least seven years, Your Content is first to report.
United States Attorney William M. McSwain said Wednesday that Stefan Tucker, 33, of Philadelphia was sentenced to 200 months in prison by United States District Judge Gerald J. Pappert for his involvement in an almost around-the-clock drug delivery service for several years in South Philadelphia.
Two of Tucker’s fellow delivery drivers, Stephen Wilkerson, 30, and Jerome Tucker, 29, both of Philadelphia, were also recently sentenced and received ten years and five years in prison, respectively.
All three pleaded guilty to multiple drug offenses in January and February, 2020.
Between 2013 and 2016, the defendants and their co-conspirators, known as the “Friends” and the “7th Street” drug trafficking group, delivered crack cocaine and heroin to customers along the 7th Street corridor in South Philadelphia using a shared drug phone.
The drug deliverymen used the phone to take orders and communicate with customers; they would pass the phone off in shifts to keep their operation going almost 24 hours per day.
FBI agents conducted surveillance and controlled purchases of narcotics from the defendants using audio and video recording devices. During the course of the investigation, agents also intercepted phone calls and text messages from the shared drug phone, which documented the defendants’ illicit activities.
Three co-defendants, Antoine Clark, Gerald Spruell, and Daniel Robinson, were convicted at trial in February 2020 of multiple drug offenses stemming from their involvement in the drug operation and await sentencing.
“Trafficking in heroin and crack cocaine destroys neighborhoods, it’s deadly, and it’s obviously illegal – for good reason,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “And it will land you in federal prison for many years. The 7th Street drug trafficking group is now gone, and we bid it good riddance.”
“This group’s constant churn of drug transactions kept the 7th Street corridor awash in heroin, crack, and other narcotics,” said Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Shutting them down makes the community safer and these sentences will put them out of business.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Newcomer and Jason Grenell.