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February 24, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wheeling Resident Sentenced for Conspiracy to Distribute Ecstasy

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA - A 23 year old Wheeling, West Virginia, resident was sentenced today (February 24, 2011), in United States District Court in Wheeling by Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that RYAN P. FADUL was sentenced to 37 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. FADUL entered a plea of guilty on January 25, 2011, to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy pills, containing 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine.

FADUL’ s guilty plea arises from an investigation in the Summer of 2010 by the Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crime Task Force (Task Force) which resulted in four controlled buys being made in July and ended in the search of FADUL’s residence in the North Park area of Wheeling. The Task Force was able to purchase from FADUL and his co-defendant, Bryan Knorr, a total of 111 ecstasy pills in exchange for $1,130. When the Task Force executed the search warrant following the last buy, officers seized $1,192 including $530 of previously recorded buy money, a digital scale, and an additional 929 ecstasy tablets, with a street value in excess of $8,000. The DEA Mid-Atlantic Laboratory has determined all the substances seized from FADUL’s residence or distributed by him to the confidential informant, contained 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy). As part of his plea, FADUL agreed to forfeit the $1,192 seized during the search and to reimburse the Task Force $630 for monies spent during the investigation and not recovered.

FADUL was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal designation to a federal institution.

FADUL’s co-defendant, Bryan Knorr is awaiting sentencing.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John C. Parr and was investigated by the Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crime Task Force consists of officers from the Wheeling Police Department, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.