(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced yesterday that a resident of New Castle has been sentenced in federal court to 80 months in prison, to be followed by six years of supervised release, on his conviction of drug trafficking and firearm crimes as part of a Homeland Security Task Force prosecution. Forty-four-year-old Jauan Searcy was sentenced, and he pleaded guilty in July of 2025 to conspiring to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine between August of 2023 and August of 2024, and to possessing a firearm following a felony conviction. According to information presented to the Court, Searcy, who had previously been convicted of a felony, was part of a drug trafficking conspiracy that was based in Detroit and in New Castle. He participated in the conspiracy by retailing controlled substances to his customers in the New Castle area. When law enforcement arrested Searcy at his New Castle residence on August 1st, 2024, following his federal indictment, agents found a shotgun next to his bed. Federal law prohibits possession of either ammunition or a firearm by a convicted felon.