Randolph County man indicted on drug distribution charges

ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA – An Elkins, West Virginia man was arraigned today on multiple drug charges after being indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Elkins on August 22, 2018, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Thomas Roger Atohi, also known as “Smoke,” age 28, was indicted on one count of “Distribution of Methamphetamine” and two counts of “Distribution of Methamphetamine in Proximity of a Protected Location.” Atohi is accused of selling methamphetamine, sometimes near Beverly Elementary School and Elkins Christian Academy, in Randolph County in August, September, and October 2016.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen D. Warner is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Mountain Regional 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 Michael John Aloi presided.

An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.