FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 9, 2012
CHARLESTON MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL DRUG CHARGE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Jonathan Cavender also known as “Tubbs,” 26, of Charleston, pleaded guilty today in federal court before United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. to distribution of crack cocaine. Cavender admitted that on February 15, 2011, he sold 2.52 grams of crack cocaine to a confidential informant working with the Charleston Police Department in exchange for $600. Cavender further admitted that on March 2, 2011, he sold 1.06 grams of crack cocaine and on March 10, 2011, he sold .49 grams of crack cocaine to a confidential informant in exchange for $200 on both occasions.
Cavender faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced on July 6, 2012.
The Charleston Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Monica Coleman is in charge of the prosecution.
This case was prosecuted as part of the Charleston area’s Drug Market Intervention (DMI) initiative. The DMI initiative was launched in February 2012 by Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster and U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin, in collaboration with other federal, state, local law enforcement agencies and leaders representing several West Side community development organizations. The DMI initiative was initiated in Charleston as a strategic problem-solving effort aimed at closing down open-air drug markets that breed crimes of violence and disorder.
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