Three Sentenced On Drug Trafficking Charges

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WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Three West Virginia residents were sentenced on drug trafficking charges, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced today.

Diane Savage, 50, of Moundsville, West Virginia, was sentenced to 46 months in prison for oxycodone distribution. She will also forfeit $2,332.94. She pled guilty in January 2014 to a criminal Information charging her with one count of “Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Oxycodone.” An investigation by the Marshall County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, revealed that Savage would receive shipments of painkillers from California and orchestrate a group of associates to redistribute the pills.

Sylvester Walker, 22, of Wheeling, West Virginia, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for selling crack cocaine near the Luau Manor, a public housing authority facility in Wheeling. He pled guilty in December 2013 to one count of “Distribution of Cocaine Base within 1,000 feet of a Protected Location.” The Ohio Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, led the investigation.

Clarence W. Bertram, 23, of Wheeling, West Virginia was sentenced to 21 months in prison for selling crack cocaine near Wheeling Central Catholic High School. Following an investigation by the West Virginia State Police and the Ohio Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, he pled guilty in February 2014 to one count of “Distribution of Cocaine Base within 1000’ of a Protected Location.”

U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld prosecuted Bertram and Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Bernard prosecuted Walker and Savage on behalf of the government.

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