Pennsylvania man pleads guilty to bath salts distribution in Texas-based conspiracy

SCRANTON, Pa. — A 26-year-old Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania man, pleaded guilty on Feb. 16, 2017, to participating in a conspiracy to distribute alpha-pvp, commonly known as “bath salts,” following a federal investigation, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), United States Postal Inspectors, the Drug Enforcement Administration, members of the Pennsylvania State Police, and local police from Luzerne County.   

Robert Benussi III, colluded with others to distribute drugs in the Luzerne County area in 2014 and 2015. The members of the conspiracy obtained the alpha-pvp from suppliers in China.

Benussi also admitted that he and others used force, threats, and intimidation in connection with the drug conspiracy.

“Homeland Security Investigations and our law enforcement partners will continue to use all resources at our disposal to detect and prevent the importation and distribution of dangerous chemicals and narcotics that continue to ravage our communities. The excellent investigative work in this case conducted by HSI special agents, our task force officers from the Pennsylvania State Police, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspectors, directly resulted in the today’s guilty plea,” said Marlon V. Miller, special agent in charge of HSI Philadelphia, “These seizures and related arrests are another victory in ridding our communities of these poisons."

Benussi was one of seven people charged by a grand jury in August 2016. That indictment was the fourth wave of arrests connected to alpha-pvp distribution in Luzerne County. In all, 18 people have been charged in the case since July 2013, including a Texas-based supplier of the bath salts. Benussi is the fourteenth defendant to plead guilty in the case.