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March 18, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Martinsburg Resident Enters Plea to Heroin Charge

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - A 24-year old Martinsburg, West Virginia, resident entered a plea of guilty on March 15, 2012, in United States District Court in Martinsburg before Magistrate Judge David J. Joel.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that: AARON LEE HAIRSTON entered a plea of guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin within 1,000 feet of Rosemont Elementary School on March 24, 2010. HAIRSTON, who is in custody pending sentencing, faces a maximum exposure of 1 to 40 years imprisonment and a fine of $2,000,000.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas O. Mucklow and was investigated by the Eastern Panhandle Drug & Violent Crime Task Force, consisting of officers from the West Virginia State Police - Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Martinsburg Police Department, and the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department.