1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Chris Zumpetta-Parr, Public Affairs Specialist

September 18, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

 

Four Individuals Indicted on Methamphetamine Charges
to Appear in Federal Court

ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA - Four individuals named in an Indictment returned on August 21, 2012, by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Elkins, West Virginia, will appear before Magistrate Judge John S. Kaull on October 3, 2012, in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

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

ROBERT ALLEN COOK, age 48, of Old Fields, West Virginia; PAULA LYNN CHAMP, age 29, of Purgitsville, West Virginia; LISHA ROSETTA RUNIONS, age 51, of Fisher, West Virginia; and, LISA ANN CRITES, age 36, of Moorefield, West Virginia, were named in a 32-count Indictment.

Count One alleges that COOK, CHAMP, RUNIONS and CRITES Conspired to Manufacture Methamphetamine from July of 2011 to January 29, 2011, in the Northern District of West Virginia.

Count Two alleges that COOK, CHAMP, RUNIONS and CRITES Manufacture Methamphetamine on January 29, 2012, in Hardy County, West Virginia.

Count Three alleges that COOK, CHMP, RUNIONS and CRITES Possessed Material Used in the Manufacture of Methamphetamine on January 29, 2012, in Hardy County.

Counts Four through Ten allege that COOK Possessed Pseudoephedrine Knowing it Would be Used to Manufacture Methamphetamine on September 7, September 12, September 16, October 13, October 14, and November 28, 2011; and January 29, 2012.

Counts Eleven through Nineteen Ten allege that CHAMP Possessed Pseudoephedrine Knowing it Would be Used to Manufacture Methamphetamine on July 6, July 11, July 20, July 22, October 13, October 21, November 19 and December 18, 2011; and January 23, 2012.

Counts Twenty through Twenty-Eight allege that RUNIONS Possessed Pseudoephedrine Knowing it Would be Used to Manufacture Methamphetamine on July 1, July 14, July 22, October 5, October 20, November 19, December 2 and December 7, 2011; and January 29, 2012.

Counts Twenty-Nine through Thirty-Two allege that CRITES Possessed Pseudoephedrine Knowing it Would be Used to Manufacture Methamphetamine on July 2 and July 15, 2011; and, January 5 and January 27, 2012.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000 as to Counts One and Two; 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 as to Count Three; and, 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 as to Counts Four through Thirty-Two.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen D. Warner and investigated by the Potomac Highlands Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, consisting
of officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the West Virginia State Police - Bureau of Criminal Investigations.

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