Centre County Man Indicted on Federal Drug Trafficking, Firearm Charges

One of two men arrested in March for selling methamphetamine in Centre County is now facing federal charges.

Taylon Hamilton, 30, of Bellefonte, was indicted on drug trafficking and firearm charges Tuesday in the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania after a joint investigation by the Centre County Drug Task Force and FBI.

Hamilton and another man, Zachary Lyter, of Bellefonte, were arrested and charged in Centre County Court in March for possession with intent to deliver and related offenses. According to an affidavit of probable cause filed at the time by a Spring Township detective, Hamilton sold meth to a confidential informant on two occasions at a residence in Bellefonte.

A search warrant executed at Pike Street residence in Hamilton’s case yielded two guns, money and a “significant amount of methamphetamine,” police wrote in March. He

Hamilton is now facing two federal counts of distributing a controlled substance, one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and one count of felon in possession of a firearm. According to the indictment, Hamilton is a convicted felon who a Hi-Point C9 9mm pistol with an obliterated serial number.

If convicted, Hamilton faces maximum sentence of life in prison, U.S. Attorney Gerard Karam said in a press release.

The case was investigated as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a justice department program that brings together federal and local law enforcement to reduce violent crime and gun violence in communities.