Press Release
Monongalia County man admits to his role in a drug trafficking operation
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of West Virginia
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Larry Bruce Heaster, of Morgantown, West Virginia, has admitted to his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Heaster, 55, pled guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin and Cocaine Base.” Heaster admitted to working with others to distribute the drugs from March 2018 to September 2020 in Monongalia County and elsewhere.
Heaster faces up to 20 years of 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.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zelda E. Wesley is prosecuting the cases on behalf of the government. The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Mon Metro Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, and the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office investigated.
The investigation was funded in part by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael John Aloi presided.
Related press release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/seventeen-people-charged-heroin-and-crack-cocaine-distribution-operation
Updated November 13, 2020
Topic
Drug Trafficking
Component