Akron Man Sentenced to Federal Prison

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Lonnie Brown, 47, of Akron, Ohio, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison, announced United States Attorney Michael B. Stuart.  He was caught with a firearm in September 2016 and selling fentanyl in February 2017.  Stuart praised the investigative efforts of the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department STOP Team, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Charleston Police Department.

“Felons, guns and drugs do not mix,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart.  “Guys like Brown are a danger to the safety of our citizens and law enforcement officers and should be locked up.”  

On September 26, 2016, officers with the Charleston Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a Honda Accord in Charleston.  Brown fled the vehicle on foot.  During the search of the vehicle, officers located a Glock, Model 27, caliber .40 semi-automatic pistol in the floorboard where Brown had been sitting.  Brown was prohibited from possessing any firearm under federal law because he had been convicted in 2015 in Montgomery County, Ohio for possession of heroin.

On February 15, 2017, agents with the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team used a confidential informant to make a controlled buy of heroin from the defendant.  The buy occurred at 602 Randolph Street, Apartment B, in Charleston.  The defendant provided the informant with suspected heroin.  The substance tested positive for fentanyl. 

Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie S. Taylor handled the prosecution. United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence.

The drug prosecution is part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District. 

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

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