Date: December 2, 2021 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov HARRISBURG — The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Dwayne Sherman of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was charged in an eight-count superseding indictment on December 1, 2021, by a federal grand jury on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, the superseding indictment charges Sherman with one count of conspiring to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine between October 2015 and May 2018, in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, California, and elsewhere and seven counts of money laundering. Sherman was previously charged in October 2015 and awaiting trial in the Middle District of Pennsylvania on money laundering charges related to sending thousands of dollars in drug related proceeds to Mexico to pay for illegal controlled substances. The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Hawthorne (California) Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Consiglio is prosecuting the case. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department's renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney's Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime. Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The maximum penalty under federal law for the most serious offense is 40 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
