PITTSBURGH – Melvin Dorsey-Pace pled guilty to distributing crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of an elementary school, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
Dorsey-Pace, age 29 of New Castle, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon. Judge Bissoon scheduled sentencing to occur on June 21, 2022, at 2:15 p.m.
As part of the factual basis for the guilty plea, the Court was informed that, on April 6, 2021, Dorsey-Pace distributed crack cocaine near St. Vitus Elementary School in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He was on federal supervised release at that time. He was convicted in 2016 in this district for conspiring to distribute crack cocaine and was released to supervised release in 2020.
The law provides for a sentence of at least one year and up to 60 years in prison and a fine of up to $4,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is to be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Craig W. Haller is prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Lawrence County Drug Task Force, the Mercer County Drug Task Force, the New Castle Police Department, the Sharon Police Department, the Hermitage Police Department, and the Farrell Police Department led the investigation resulting in the conviction in this case.
This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.