SCRANTON, Pa. — A Selinsgrove man will spend 17 years in federal prison after a single traffic stop in Lewisburg uncovered fentanyl, methamphetamine and crack cocaine in his pockets, in his vehicle and at the property where he was living. Scotch Bruce Hanning, 46, of Selinsgrove, in Snyder County, was sentenced on November 3, 2026, to 204 months' imprisonment by Chief United States District Judge Matthew W. Brann for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine base (crack), in both Snyder and Union Counties, and elsewhere, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
The sentence closes a case that began more than three years earlier with a roadside stop — and it was built, step by step, on three separate searches on a single day, January 3, 2023, each of which produced more drugs than the one before it.
A traffic stop in Lewisburg
According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on Hanning on January 3, 2023, in Lewisburg, the Union County seat, in Pennsylvania's Susquehanna Valley. A search of Hanning's person revealed 1.89 grams of fentanyl, 0.79 gram of buprenorphine, and 3.50 grams of crystal methamphetamine, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Source: WBRE/WYOU 28/22 News
The stop did not end there. A police canine alerted to narcotics in the vehicle, and officers discovered 3.98 grams of fentanyl, 4.1 grams of cocaine base (crack), and 13.9 grams of crystal methamphetamine inside it — the largest single seizure of the day.
Investigators then obtained a search warrant for the property in which Hanning was living. There they recovered a further 0.32 gram of cocaine base and 0.14 gram of fentanyl. Across the three searches, officers seized about six grams of fentanyl in total, more than 17 grams of crystal methamphetamine, and about four and a half grams of crack cocaine, along with the buprenorphine found at the stop.
Who investigated the case
The case was investigated by the FBI's Philadelphia division through its Scranton Resident Agency, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Lycoming County Narcotics Enforcement Unit. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Luisa Honora Berti in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the federal district that covers the Susquehanna Valley counties of Snyder and Union, where the drugs were possessed for distribution.
The program behind the prosecution
The U.S. Attorney's Office said the case was brought under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Department of Justice's nationwide initiative that pairs federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement with prosecutors and community partners to combat violent crime. PSN is coordinated by U.S. Attorneys' offices in each of the 94 federal districts and, the department says, works as a key component of Operation Take Back America, emphasizing rapid federal response to violent crime, strategic partnerships at every level of law enforcement, and accountability through prosecution of the most serious, readily provable offences.
For residents of Snyder and Union Counties — small, largely rural counties along the Susquehanna River — the case is a reminder that federal fentanyl prosecutions do not only come out of big cities. A roadside stop in Lewisburg, carried out with a police dog and followed by a search warrant at a home, was enough to build a federal case carrying a 17-year sentence, because the charge was possession with intent to distribute, not simple possession.
What happens next
With sentencing complete, Hanning's case moves from the courtroom to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, where the 204-month term will be served. There is no parole in the federal prison system, so a federal sentence of this length is served subject only to credit for good conduct. The sentencing, announced this week by U.S. Attorney Brian D. Miller, ends the prosecution that began with the January 2023 stop — nearly four years from a single day's three searches to a 17-year sentence.