Bluefield man pleads guilty to federal drug charge

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Bluefield man pleaded guilty today to a federal drug crime, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Marvin Gillespie, 65, entered his guilty plea to distribution of hydromorphone.

Gillespie admitted that on March 14, 2016, he sold hydromorphone to a confidential informant working with law enforcement. The drug deal took place in Bluefield. Gillespie faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on June 21, 2017.

The Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John L. File is responsible for the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber.

This case is being prosecuted under the Bluefield Pill Initiative as 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 illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.

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