Indian man guilty in heroin paraphernalia case, to be deported

Pittsburgh: An Indian man has pleaded guilty to selling powder that dilutes heroin and tiny "stamp" bags used to package it for street sale, and agreed to be deported to his native India.

That won't happen until 72-year-old Akhil Mishra returns for sentencing in August. He was previously convicted in 1992 and 2000 of selling marijuana bongs and drug paraphernalia at "head shops" his family formerly owned in Pittsburgh.

Federal prosecutors cracked down on Mishra again last year in the midst of a heroin overdose epidemic in western Pennsylvania.

Mishra's defense attorney George Bills said his client expects to be sentenced to the jail time he will have served since last year.

Authorities contend Mishra continued selling the items out of his Indiana Township home even after they raided his business.