Luzerne County Man Sentenced to 20 Years’ Imprisonment for Distributing Fentanyl Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury

SCRANTON- The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Joshua Ward, 28, of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on November 5, 2026, to 240 months' imprisonment by Senior United States District Judge Malachy E. Mannion for distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury.

According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, Ward previously pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl that caused a serious bodily injury to another individual. As Judge Mannion noted at sentencing, Ward sold fentanyl to an individual in a vehicle, and he told the individual to "sniff" the fentanyl in front of him in an effort to ensure the individual was not working as an informant for law enforcement. The individual ingested the fentanyl then proceeded to overdose. The individual was taken to the hospital, where he survived the near-fatal overdose.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Luzerne County Drug Task Force investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle A. Moreno prosecuted the case.

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the Department of Justice's nationwide initiative that brings federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, prosecutors, and other public safety partners together to coordinate efforts to combat violent crime and make communities safe. Coordinated by U.S. Attorneys' offices in each of the 94 federal districts, PSN is tailored to particular communities to strategically address specific violent crime and public safety challenges. As a key component of Operation Take Back America, PSN serves a central role in the Department's commitment to make our country safe. PSN emphasizes three core principles: rapid federal response to violent crime and criminal offenders; strong, strategic partnerships among law enforcement at all levels; and accountability and deterrence through the prosecution of the most serious, readily provable offenses and other strategies. These efforts complement and strengthen President Trump's Homeland Security Task Forces, ensuring a comprehensive federal response to the most pressing public safety issues facing communities.

This case was also brought as part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin. Led by the United States Attorney's Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit heroin related offenses.

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