Man sentenced to 12 1/2 years in heroin distribution case

PITTSBURGH (AP)

A western Pennsylvania man convicted in federal court of conspiracy to distribute heroin has been sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the term Wednesday on 35-year-old Mayank Mishra, saying he put “poison” on the streets of Pittsburgh and “should not sleep well at night.”

But she rejected the government’s contention that Mishra should be punished for distribution of more than 90 kilos of heroin over 14 years, saying the evidence at his December trial demonstrated only distribution of three to 10 kilos.

Mishra said he wasn’t “a gang member of a violent person.”

Prosecutors said he sold heroin from a store in a struggling mall and dealt with members of a violent gang.