Ohio man sentenced to ten years for heroin trafficking

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Shawn Lemont McClain, 35, of Cleveland, Ohio, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison for heroin trafficking, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II announced.

In imposing the ten year prison sentence, a significant upward variance from the applicable advisory sentencing guideline range, the court noted that McClain, an Ohio resident, crossed state lines and targeted the Ohio Valley to operate a drug trafficking operation that amounted to a business enterprise. The court emphasized the necessity of the prison term by noting that McClain continued to sell heroin while on pretrial release.

The Mountaineer Highway Interdiction Team discovered McClain in possession of heroin in Ohio County, West Virginia. He pled guilty in September 2014 to one count of “Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Bernard prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

Chief U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.