A Besalemn man will be locked up for 20 years as part of a guilty reached for trafficking the deadly drug fentanyl in two commonwealth counties and causing two people to die.

Tarik Wilson, age 24, of Bensalem, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner to 20 years’ imprisonment for conspiring to distribute fentanyl. The Court also ordered a five-year term of supervised release to follow the term of imprisonment.

Lower Bucks Source covered Wilson’s initial arrest that was part of a coordinated effort of the Philadelphia Police Drug Strike Force( DSF), Bensalem Township Police and Bucks County Detectives last May.

On the day in question, surveillance showed suspect Wilson meeting up with an individual in the parking lot of a restaurant. The bag that Mr.Wilson had given the suspect contained quantities of Fentanyl pills. This bag would later be seized by law enforcement, according

Later that night, police executed a search warrant on Wilson’s home at 2517 Dunks Ferry Road, Apartment E-208, and upon entry placed him under arrest court records show.

Wilson previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl and a fentanyl analogue between March and May 2022 in Lebanon and Bucks Counties. As part of his plea, Wilson also admitted to distributing fentanyl in Lebanon County in April 2020, resulting in the deaths of two individuals.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Lebanon County Drug Task Force, the Bucks County Drug Task Force, and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carlo D. Marchioli prosecuted the case.

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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

This case was 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.