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

March 28, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Martinsburg Resident Arrested on Drug Charges

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - A 25 year old Martinsburg, West Virginia, resident named in a four-count Indictment returned on March 21, 2012, by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Martinsburg, West Virginia was arrested on March 23, 2012.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that: BRANDON LEE SPAUR was charged in Count One with distribution of crack cocaine on October 31, 2011; in Counts Two and Three with distribution of crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of the Potomack Intermediate School on two separate occasions on December 7, 2011; and, in Count Four with possession with intent to distribute more than 28 grams of crack cocaine on December 7, 2011, in Berkeley County, West Virginia. SPAUR appeared before Magistrate David J. Joel on March 26, 2012, for his initial appearance and will have a detention hearing on March 29, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. before Magistrate Joel. If convicted, SPAUR faces a maximum exposure of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000 on Counts One and Four and 1 to 40 years imprisonment and a fine of $2,000,000 on Counts Two and Three. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Erin K. Reisenweber and was investigated by the Eastern Panhandle Drug & Violent Crime Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration consisting of officers from the West Virginia State Police - Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Martinsburg Police Department, and the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department.

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