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Greater Wilkes-Barre Association of Realtors hosting holiday dinner dance

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Happy birthday to Noah Alexander Simko!

KINGSTON &#8212; The U.S Attorney&#8217;s Office announced Wednesday that a Luzerne County man has pleaded guilty to participating in a heroin trafficking ring that operated in the area from February through October 2014.Through a plea agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Desmond Mercer admitted to conspiring with others from Luzerne County, New Jersey and Alabama to distribute heroin to customers in Luzerne County. Mercer also acknowledged distributing more than 700 grams of heroin and playing a leadership role in the conspiracy, pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin.Court documents indicate that the maximum penalty for that offense is 20 years imprisonment, a $1 million fine and a lifetime of supervised release.Court documents indicate that Mercer&#8217;s charges stemmed from a search warrant police executed on on Feb. 20, 2014, at a multi-unit dwelling at 216 &#189; Davis Street in Plymouth. The warrant, which was issued the day before, was based on three alleged purchases of heroin by a confidential informant and complaints from neighbors about traffic in the vicinity of the residence.There, authorities said they allegedly found marijuana, heroin, cocaine, cash and a .22-caliber handgun, the complaint says.Mercer was later indicted by a federal grand jury as a result of an investigation led by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Kingston police, Plymouth police and the Luzerne County District Attorney&#8217;s Office.Mercer has an extensive criminal history of drug-related offenses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, according to court records.Mercer previously was arrested by Larksville and Kingston police on Aug. 13, 2014, when he was allegedly found with 600 heroin packets hidden down his pants. Mercer was a passenger in a vehicle police had stopped for a cracked windshield.Court records say Mercer was also one of 17 people charged by the state Office of Attorney General in September 2009 when narcotics agents cracked down on street-level peddlers of heroin. Mercer pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver heroin and was sentenced in August 2010 to one year, minus one day to two years, minus two days, in the county correctional facility.At the time of the county sentence in August 2010, Mercer was already serving a three-year sentence on heroin-trafficking charges in New Jersey, according to New Jersey court records.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Travis Kellartkellar@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews</shirttailMeta></div>

Edwardsville man to plead guilty to federal heroin-trafficking charges