A Wilkes-Barre clothing store owner has been sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison for drug trafficking. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that James Rodriguez, Jr., also known as “Mack Mulla,” was sentenced on November 21, 2025, by United States District Judge Robert D. Mariani to 242 months’ imprisonment.
According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, Rodriguez was convicted by a jury on June 24, 2025, on nine counts related to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute approximately 1.3 kilograms of fentanyl and 8.5 kilograms of marijuana between January 2021 and January 2022. During this period, Rodriguez operated Mulla Fashion, a clothing store with an attached recording studio on Scott Street in Wilkes-Barre. Authorities said he used the business as a front for selling fentanyl and marijuana both to users and other street-level dealers.
The investigation revealed that in January 2021, Rodriguez traveled to Mexico where he met with MS-13 gang members who supplied him with kilograms of fentanyl intended for distribution in the area. He maintained a stash house in Wilkes-Barre Township for storing drugs.
On January 20, 2022, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the stash house and seized significant quantities of drugs and firearms: “159 grams of fentanyl, 400 grams of marijuana, two handguns and a shotgun.” Additional seizures from Mulla Fashion included “800 grams of marijuana, 37 grams of fentanyl, a ballistics vest, and a handgun.”
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Kingston Police Department and the Luzerne County Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jenny P. Roberts and Kyle Moreno prosecuted the case.
