Pittsburgh man caught trying to sell heroin to undercover FBI agents pleads guilty

A Pittsburgh man caught trying to sell heroin to a pair of undercover FBI agents pleaded guilty to drug charges, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Mark Ridley, 28, believed he was taking the illegal street drug to a customer in the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood in April 2017 with his driver, Leonard Rushin-Felder, a co-defendant in the case, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said.

When agents searched their SUV, they found a secret compartment in the passenger door filled with 20 bricks of heroin — enough to fill 1,000 small packets, prosecutors said. Officials seized a handgun that belonged to Rushin-Felder and three phones, including the one Ridley used to arrange the deal with the agents.

Ridley faces a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine up to $2 million.

The Western District of Pennsylvania Opioid Task Force led the investigation, which involved help from the state Attorney General’s Office, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department and police from Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Port Authority, Munhall, Sto-Rox, West Mifflin

Assistant U.S. attorneys Timothy M. Lanni and Shaun Sweeney prosecuted the case.

Rustin-Felder already pleaded guilty to his role in the heroin scheme.

A federal grand jury indicted both Ridley and Rushin-Felder in May 2017.

During a court hearing that same month, Rushin-Felder was accused of assaulting two U.S. marshals, requiring other officers to get involved to restrain him, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to an extra two years and two days in jail for the assault.