Wetzel County man sentenced for connection to a drug distribution operation in Wetzel and Tyler Counties

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Alex King, of New Martinsville, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 37 months incarceration for his involvement in methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin distribution that spanned multiple states, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.

King, age 33, pled guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Distribute and to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances” in August 2018. King admitted to working with others to distribute heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine from 2016 to April 2018 in Wetzel County and elsewhere. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert H. McWilliams, Jr., and Shawn M. Adkins prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol; Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Marshall County Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the West Virginia State Police; the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office; the Wetzel County Sheriff’s Office; the Sistersville Police Department; the Paden City Police Department; and the New Martinsville Police Department investigated. The Columbus, Ohio, Police Department Gang Crimes Unit assisted in the case. 

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.

Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr. presided.