A Latrobe man was ordered to spend one year and one day in a federal prison in connection with drug offenses.

Richard Bakey, 30, will spend three years on supervised release after the prison term, according to court records filed after the Thursday hearing.

Bakey was arrested in September. Drug Enforcement Administration agents paid Bakey $275 for 100 Xanax bars Aug. 1, 2020, according to prosecutors. Almost 10 months later, state troopers seized nearly 120 fentanyl pills from him during a traffic stop. Fake pills made to look like legitimate prescription medication can contain fentanyl, according to the DEA.

It was unclear from court records where in Allegheny County the incidents happened.

He pleaded guilty in November to possession with intent to distribute alprazolam, or Xanax, and fentanyl.

In a sentencing memorandum, Bakey’s attorney asked for a sentence without jail time. Bakey operates a concrete and excavating business and has struggled with drug addiction for years, wrote attorney Samir Sarna, adding that his client’s criminal history dates to age 12.

“Mr. Bakey understands the seriousness of drug trafficking,” Sarna wrote in the memorandum. “Being an addict himself, and constantly battling with his recovery, he fully appreciates the impact that drug possession and sales can have on individuals, their families and the larger community.”

The 10 months in between offenses shows that Bakey engaged in a pattern of having and distributing pills over a period of time, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

They asked the judge to consider imposing a sentence that would act as a deterrent to Bakey and others who engage in similar criminal activity. Prison officials were asked to make an assessment to see if Bakey would be a candidate for home detention, according to a judgement. Bakey was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons no earlier than Nov. 1.

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