United States Attorney David Metcalf has announced the sentencing of Matthew Romig, a 38-year-old resident of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. sentenced Romig to 57 months in federal prison, followed by six years of supervised release, for offenses related to drug distribution and firearms. Romig is also required to pay a $900 special assessment.
Romig was charged in October 2024 with multiple drug-related offenses, including five counts of distribution of a controlled substance, one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and possession of a substance within 1,000 feet of a school or playground. Additionally, he faced charges related to firearms, including possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of an unregistered machine gun. In January, Romig entered a guilty plea to all charges.
Court documents and filings reveal that Romig sold cocaine repeatedly in Bethlehem, often within close proximity to a community playground near his home. On July 26, 2024, law enforcement executed a search at Romig's residence on the 600 block of Hayes Street. They seized $760, over three grams of cocaine, and other drug paraphernalia from his vehicle. Inside his residence, authorities found eight grams of cocaine, a .45 caliber Military Armament Corp MAC-10 submachine gun with an extended magazine and suppressor. This firearm was unregistered and had an obliterated serial number.
In 2005, Romig was convicted of robbery in the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas and received a sentence of 14 to 36 months. This conviction rendered him unable to legally own or possess firearms.
Commenting on the case, U.S. Attorney Metcalf stated, “Matthew Romig endangered his community, selling cocaine and arming himself with a deadly weapon. He wasn’t allowed to have any firearm, let alone a submachine gun set to full automatic, with extended magazine and suppressor. It’s critical to get dangerous drugs off the street and illegal guns out of criminals’ hands, to crack down on violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer.”
Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division, added, “Matthew Romig was selling drugs near a playground and armed with a fully automatic MAC-10 .45 submachine gun. This criminal is going to federal prison, where he will no longer endanger this community. Together with our state and local partners, and the United States Attorney’s Office, we continue to make Pennsylvania’s communities safer from such dangerous criminals.”
The investigation was carried out by the ATF, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and the Bethlehem Police Department as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rebecca Kulik and Robert Schopf.