1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Fawn E. Thomas, Public Affairs Specialist

March 7, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Grand Jury Indicts Pennsylvania Resident

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA — A 35 year old Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, resident was named in an indictment returned by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Clarksburg, West Virginia, on March 6, 2012.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that:

RYAN RIEGER was named in a three-count Indictment. Count One charges RIEGER with conspiracy to distribute marijuana from January of 2011 to March 1, 2012, in Wheeling, West Virginia. Count Two charges RIEGER with possess with intent to distribute approximately 43 pounds of marijuana on March 1, 2012, in Wheeling. Count Three charges RIEGER with traveling in interstate commerce from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to Wheeling on March 1, 2012, with the intent to distribute approximately 43 pounds of marijuana in exchange for $133,000. The Indictment also contains a Forfeiture Allegation wherein the United States seeks to forfeit a money judgment in the amount of at least $100,000; $133,000.06 in United States currency seized from RIEGER on March 1, 2012; $3,909 in United States currency seized from REIGER’s residence on March 1, 2012; and, a 2009 Toyota Tundra pick-up truck, all of which constitutes drug proceeds. If convicted, REIGER faces a maximum exposure of 5 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 as to Counts One, Two and Three. This case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard and was investigated by the Ohio Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, consisting of officers from the Wheeling Police Department, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

It should be noted that the charges contained in the above-referenced Indictment are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.