Charleston man sentenced for distributing heroin

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Kennele Groom, 36, of Charleston, was sentenced to 58 months in federal prison.

In May 2014, Groom pleaded guilty to distributing heroin in Charleston. On Jan. 14, 2014, officers searched Groom’s residence in the 1200 block of Griffith Drive in Charleston, finding more than $20,000 cash and more than 12 grams of heroin. Another $1,979 cash was found on Groom when he was arrested. Groom admitted that he traveled to Cincinnati to purchase heroin to sell in the Charleston area.

Groom sold heroin to a confidential informant on three separate occasions in Charleston prior to his arrest.

United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston imposed the sentence.

The case was investigated by Charleston Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Steven I. Loew handled the prosecution.

The case was prosecuted 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, 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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