Berkeley County man admits to fentanyl distribution

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Nicholas Wayne Deminds, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, has admitted to distributing fentanyl, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
 
Deminds, age 30, pled guilty to one count of “Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl.” Deminds admitted to distributing more than 25 grams of fentanyl in December 2018 in Berkeley County.

Deminds also agreed to forfeit a box of 20 rounds of ammunition and $4,523.00.

Deminds faces up to 20 years incarceration and a fine of up to $1,000,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

This case is the result of investigations supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) under the Attorney General-led Synthetic Opioid Surge (SOS)/Special Operations Division (SOD) Project Clean Sweep.  This initiative seeks to reduce the supply of synthetic opioids in “hot spot” areas previously identified by the Attorney General of the United States, thereby reducing drug overdoses and drug overdose deaths, and identify wholesale distribution networks and sources of supply operating nationally and internationally. 

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Lydia Lehman, also with the Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Eastern Panhandle Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.

The investigation was funded by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.