Florida woman sentenced for role in drug distribution operation in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Brianna Katherine Murray, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was sentenced to three years probation for aiding in the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.
 
Murray, age 38, pled guilty to one count of “Aiding and Abetting Travel Act – Promotion” in June 2019. Murray admitted to working with another to travel from West Virginia to Maryland to obtain heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine for distribution in West Virginia. The crime occurred in September 2018 in Berkeley County and elsewhere.

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.

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

The investigation was funded in part 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.

Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.