PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Alberto Cintron, aka “Bert” and “Nephew,” 37, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 234 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release by United States District Judge John M. Younge for drug trafficking and firearms offenses.The defendant was charged by indictment in May of 2024 and pleaded guilty this July to more than a dozen charges, including conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl; distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and possession of a firearm by a felon.As detailed in court filings and statements, in July 2023, law enforcement learned that Cintron was the leader of a drug trafficking group (“DTG”) distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl in the Montgomery County, Chester County, and Philadelphia areas. The investigation revealed a common pattern or method of conducting business, namely, the defendant would either direct his associate to deliver drugs to customers, or Cintron would deliver the controlled substances himself.From approximately July 2023 through October 2023, the Cintron DTG distributed, or possessed with the intent to distribute, more than five kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 1,000 grams of fentanyl, and other controlled substances. Recovered during search warrants at both his residence in Philadelphia and drug stash houses that he maintained were over 5,500 individually packaged bags of fentanyl, several pounds of methamphetamine and multiple firearms that the defendant was legally prohibited from having.This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).The case was investigated by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Upper Merion Police Department, and the Pennsylvania State Police, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lindsey Mills and Special Assistant United States Attorney and Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kathleen McLaughlin.