A Butler woman who was among five people arrested for distributing drugs from Philadelphia to Butler was sentenced Thursday to serve six and half years to 16 years in prison.

Desirae Feitl, 35, was sentenced to serve 78 to 192 months in state prison in accordance with a plea agreement reached with the state Attorney General’s office. She pleaded guilty to one of the four felony charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver that were filed against her. She also was charged with felony charges of corrupt organizations and criminal use of a communication facility, and two counts of conspiracy.

Feitl was one of five people indicted in May 2021 by the 46th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury in a large scale distribution and trafficking of fentanyl from Philadelphia to Butler between January and October 2020.

She has been held on bail in the county prison since her arrest in April 2021, and she was given credit for having served 580 days.

Through her attorney, Stephen Misko, she asked for additional credit for time served in jail because the women’s pod of the facility was locked down due to a case of COVID-19 while she was incarcerated, and to be declared eligible for the Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive program, which allows nonviolent offenders to reduce their minimum sentences if they complete recommended programs and remain misconduct free during their incarceration.

Appearing by video from the jail, Feitl asked Common Pleas Court Judge Kelley Streib to allow her to enter the RRRI program so she could gain an early release from prison to care for her elderly grandmother.

Deputy Attorney General Kara Lynn Cotter said the amount of fentanyl that Feitl had in her possession when she was arrested, 256 grams, was above the limit for RRRI eligibility, and her conviction on a charge of simple assault also makes her ineligible.

Feitl was charged with simple assault by Butler City police following a March 6, 2006, incident. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months of probation in October 2006, according to court records.

Streib denied both requests before ordering the sentence.

The sentence included a provision that Feitl could be released from prison after serving 144 months if she is not charged with any further offenses or violations.

Authorities found a total of about 2,300 stamp bags of heroin/fentanyl and $230,000 in cash during the arrest of the five defendants.

The cases against the co-defendants, Jodi Shirey, 52, of Butler; Brandi Zediker, 26, of Valencia; Crystal Pakutz, 30, of Butler; and Quinzal Powell, 32, of Philadelphia, are pending in Common Pleas Court.

The Office of the Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigations and the Butler County District Attorney's Drug Task Force led the investigation into the drug ring, with assistance from Butler City, Butler Township and Penn Township police, and the Butler County Sheriff's Department.