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Press Release

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

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of West Virginia

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Justin Richeson, of New Martinsville, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 18 months incarceration for his role in a methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin distribution operation that spanned multiple states, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Richeson, also known as “Squash,” age 35, pled guilty to one count of “Distribution of Methamphetamine” in December 2018. Richeson admitted to selling methamphetamine in February 2018 in Wetzel County. 

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.
 

Updated February 26, 2019

Topic
Drug Trafficking