`hype' Creates Enormous Stress, Its Absence Great Frustration For Athlete

Abandoned Bridge To Be Demolished

Thursday, November 18, 1999 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 4A 





SCRANTON - A Wilkes-Barre Township man was sentenced Wednesday in federal
court to more than nine years in prison on drug trafficking charges. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Michael Taylor, 25, of Evans Street, pleaded guilty on Feb. 11 to one count
of distribution of cocaine and one count of using a firearm in relation to a
drug trafficking crime. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Police said Taylor was involved with the distribution of cocaine in the
Wilkes-Barre area. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Taylor appeared in U.S. District Court in Scranton on Tuesday for a
sentencing hearing. Judge Edwin Kosik ordered Taylor to serve three years of
supervised release after his prison term. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Police said Taylor met with an undercover state police trooper and a
cooperating witness and sold $150 worth of cocaine to the trooper at a parking
lot in Wilkes-Barre on Sept. 9, 1998. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 During the buy, Taylor brandished a semi-automatic handgun and stated that
he was prepared to use the firearm if they were police officers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Taylor has been detained at Luzerne County Correctional Facility since his
arrest on October 29, 1998. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 United States Attorney David M. Barasch said in a news release that under
the United States sentencing guidelines currently in effect, parole has been
abolished and Taylor will be required to serve at least 6/7 of his sentence,
assuming he receives time off for good behavior. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Barasch said that the nine-year, three-month sentence underscores the
serious penalties that face drug dealers who possess firearms. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Gurganus. The Drug
Enforcement Administration, state Office of the Attorney General, the
Pennsylvania State Police and Wilkes-Barre police conducted the investigation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

W-b Twp. Man Sentenced On Drug Trafficking Charges