A former Philadelphia man was sentenced Wednesday to nine years in federal prison for transporting about 20,000 packets of heroin three years ago when state police stopped him along the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Mt. Pleasant Township.

Cristobal Rosa-Robles, 51, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh by a federal judge, after pleading guilty in April to charges of possession with intent to distribute at least 100 grams of heroin in April, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh. Rosa-Robles also was sentenced to serve four years of probation.

Rosa-Robles was arrested by state police, who had stopped him along the the turnpike in March 2019 for traffic violations. A trooper suspected Rosa-Robles may be involved in illegal drugs and got permission to search his sport utility vehicle. A hidden compartment had about 400 “bricks” — equal to 200,000 doses — were stashed, police said.

The drugs contained a mixture of heroin; fentanyl; valeryl fentanyl, a fentanyl analogue; and methamphetamine, prosecutors said.

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