Turtle Creek woman sentenced to federal prison for role in drug trafficking

A Turtle Creek woman was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in federal prison for working with two siblings to distribute fentanyl in the area.

Marleka Robinson, 26, was ordered to spend two years on supervised release after the prison term. She pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in June.

A grand jury indicted Robinson and her brother and sister in 2017. Prosecutors said Robinson transported a large amount of fentanyl from a home in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood to Turtle Creek at her brother’s request in September 2016.

During a search warrant the following day at the Chestnut Street home, police said they seized more than 285 grams — about 10 ounces — of fentanyl, two pistols, $8,900 and drug packaging materials, as well as small quantities of heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

Robinson admitted to authorities that she transported the fentanyl on that occasion and previously at the request of her brother. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid more powerful than heroin, has been contributing to an explosion of drug overdose deaths in the region for the past several years.

Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Robinson’s “conduct in this case is quite serious” but that she played a lesser role than her brother, Jerry Coker, who is serving a 10-year sentence. Her sister’s case is still working its way through the court system.

Defense attorney Michael DeRiso downplayed Robinson’s role in court filings, saying she transported drugs twice only because her brother asked her to do so.

“She knows she broke the law and that serious consequences flow from that decision that could substantially limit her freedom,” DeRiso wrote in asking Robinson be sentenced to house arrest.

U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon pointed to the serious nature of the offense as well as Robinson’s minor role in the drug trafficking and lack of criminal record in imposing the prison term, prosecutors said.