2 men sentenced for distributing drugs in Pittsburgh’s South Side as part of DS44 gang
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Two Pittsburgh men who police say were high-ranking members of a street gang that sold drugs in Pittsburgh’s South Side have been sentenced in federal court to long prison terms.
Christopher Highsmith, 28, and Anthony Jetter, 32, pleaded guilty to related drug charges and were sentenced by U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Margaret Philbin.
Both are members of the gang that called themselves Darccide/Smash 44, or DS44.
Highsmith was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl and other Schedule I and II controlled substances, officials said. He also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute a quantity of heroin and fentanyl, Philbin said.
She noted that Highsmith, one of the highest members of the drug trafficking organization, has at least two prior felony drug trafficking charges.
Jetter was sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl and more than 100 grams of heroin, Philbin said.
According to information presented in court, the Greater Pittsburgh Safe Streets Task Force began an investigation in 2017 into the gang and its drug-trafficking activity.
As part of that investigation, officials received authorization in 2019 to use wiretaps on several suspected gang members. Officials said that lead to numerous seizures of fentanyl, heroin and other street drugs.
Drug agents saw Highsmith distribute drugs, direct lower-level members of DS44 to deliver drugs, collect payment and maintain records of drug proceeds, Philbin said.
The same surveillance established Jetter’s role in distributing heroin and fentanyl he got from Highsmith.
Both cases were investigated by several agencies, including the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, which identifies, disrupts and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States.