A Lancaster-area drug dealer will serve up to 50 years in prison for having a large stash of heroin and two pistols, which he possessed illegally.
Lancaster County Judge David Ashworth on Friday sentenced 26-year-old David Lausell Jr. to serve 25 to 50 years for felony convictions of drug-dealing, firearms possession, conspiracy, and related counts.
Lausell, formerly of the 700 block of Marietta Avenue, was convicted at separate trials in April in Lancaster County Court.
In court Friday, Assistant District Attorney Maria Cusick asked the judge to order consecutive sentences on the charges because they are separate, distinct crimes.
Cusick said Lausell was running his drug-dealing operation, even while incarcerated. Lancaster County Drug Task Force detectives seized an estimated $174,000 in heroin.
Judge Ashworth ordered consecutive terms, saying Lausell is exactly the type of person society needs protection from.
The judge noted that Lausell was not an addict and ran the operation to line his own pockets.
Laussell’s criminal record, which was factored into sentencing, includes a prior drug-dealing conviction.
When arrested last year on the most recent charges, Lausell told detectives, “Good luck finding all my money,” and, “I can do five years standing on my head,” according to charging documents.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright