PITTSBURGH Man gets sentence of 30 years for conspiring to sell cocaine

PITTSBURGH -- A New Castle man was sentenced in federal court to 30 years in prison and five years' supervised probation on his conviction of conspiring to violate federal narcotics laws.
U.S. District Judge Gary L. Lancaster imposed the sentence Friday on Roy Mercer, 46, who is in the Allegheny County Jail.
According to information presented in court, between 1994 and 1999, Mercer and six others were involved in a conspiracy to distribute more than 1,320 pounds of powder cocaine.
Mercer obtained his cocaine from a source in Mexico and used couriers to transport the cocaine from Houston to New Castle, Youngstown and Detroit, federal prosecutors said.
Mercer has been held in federal custody since his arrest.
His co-defendants and their addresses before they were taken into custody are: Bruce McKnight, 35, Richelieu Avenue, New Castle; Demetrius McKnight, 26, Florence Avenue, New Castle; Christopher D. Smith, 28, Cunningham Avenue, New Castle; LaShawna L. Smith, 30, Cleveland; Terrance Tarver, 19, Masury, Ohio; and Jada Taylor, 31, Halco Drive, New Castle. They all entered guilty pleas.
The investigation involved the Pittsburgh office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, agents of the Pennsylvania office of attorney general and the New Castle police.