Pittsburgh man pleads guilty to role in multi-state drug trafficking organization

A Pittsburgh manpleaded guilty this week to being part of a multi-state drug trafficking organization, federal prosecutors said.

Kyleif Harley, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl. He also admitted to distributing at least 15 grams of a heroin and fentanyl mixture, officials said.

Harley is one of 37 people indicted in connection with the conspiracy by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh over the summer.

They were charged with conspiring to distribute and distributing more than a kilogram of heroin, at least 400 grams of fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, cocaine, and crack cocaine from January 2018 through June 2019.

Thirty-five were from Western Pennsylvania. One person was from New York, while another was from West Virginia.

Prosecutors said the trafficking was led by the Darccide/Smash 44, or DS44, neighborhood gang, which they began investigating in 2017 regarding drug activity in and around Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood.

As part of the investigation, authorities received authorization to conduct a federal wire investigation, which began in February 2019 and continued through last June .

Intercepted communications from that investigation revealed that Harley possessed and distributed heroin and fentanyl, as well as communicated with his co-defendant, Christopher Highsmith, who prosecutors said was among the leaders of the drug trafficking conspiracy.

On Aug. 1, 2018, Harley was pulled over near Philadelphia. During that traffic stop, authorities seized 261 stamp bags of heroin, over 60 pills that tested positive for various forms of fentanyl, and items related to narcotics distribution.

Harley later pleaded guilty to state charges that stemmed from that traffic stop, prosecutors said.

Harley’s sentencing has been set for July 6.