James France has an Ivy League education and practiced corporate law at two of the biggest firms in Pittsburgh.
But by 2015, federal investigators said, he was also a large-scale methamphetamine dealer who would obtain vast quantities of the drug in California and then ship it back to Pittsburgh inside candles and stuffed animals.
On Tuesday, France, 62, of Scott was ordered to serve 12½ years in federal prison.
A jury in March 2022 found France guilty of distributing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine in 2016. He was acquitted at the same time for similar charges filed against him in connection with another arrest that same year.
France faced a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Conway asked the court for additional time, arguing that France ought to serve 15 to 20 years.
“The defendant has demonstrated throughout these proceedings that he is manipulative and an inveterate liar,” Conway wrote in court papers.
“And he, unlike nearly every other defendant who comes before this court, had every opportunity to succeed in life. He is well-educated and smart. He has no excuse for turning to a life of crime, which makes him more deserving — not less deserving — of the lengthy prison term sought by the government.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, France was initially arrested by local law enforcement in Illinois in March 2015, when during a search of his car investigators found 1,344 grams of meth, scales, packing materials, syringes and more than $4,700 in cash.
France was released on bond, and those charges were later withdrawn after he filed a motion to suppress evidence.
In June 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a $2,000 controlled buy of 55 grams of meth at France’s house in Scott.
A month later, a federal search of France’s home resulted in the seizure of 430 grams of meth and $8,000 in cash.
France was again released on bond when, on June 30, 2017, another search of his home resulted in the seizure of meth, syringes, scales, packaging materials and cash.
‘Not a lost cause’
According to court documents, France was a gifted student and earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1984. He went on to earn his MBA and law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
He practiced law at Buchanan Ingersoll and Reed Smith, his attorney said.
“But that did not stop him from repeatedly violating the law,” Conway wrote. “Law enforcement intervention did nothing to stop him. He would not even comply with the conditions of bond.”
In 2016, Conway noted, France even threatened to beat the grandparents of a person he believed stole from him, warning in a voicemail he would have them “‘beat(en) to an inch of their lives just to show you that I am serious. I don’t want to do that but I will, and I won’t lose a second of sleep.”
Defense attorney Ryan James wrote in his sentencing memo that France is estranged from his parents and children and struggles with mental health and substance abuse.
He went from working at large law firms to driving for Uber, James wrote.
James urged the court to impose the 10-year minimum sentence, noting the work France had done in prison in recent years to lead Bible study and mentor others in his Catholic faith.
“Mr. France has inflicted enough punishment on himself in the last decade (if not more), and it is now time for healing— not more incarceration and punishment,” James wrote.
“Mr. France is not a lost cause, and the letters of those who have written on his behalf offer a glimpse of a man who can now be a man of redemption.”
