Detroit man pleads guilty to heroin distribution

Charleston, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Terrell Montaie, 31, of Detroit, pleaded guilty to distribution of heroin, in a hearing before United States District Court Judge Thomas Johnston in Charleston.

Montaie admitted that on March 19, 2014, he sold a quantity of heroin to a Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department confidential informant in exchange for $80. The transaction occurred at a residents on Kay Lane in Charleston where Montaie was staying. He further admitted to possessing a handgun and additional heroin at the time of his arrest on March 26, 2014.

Montaie faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of $1,000,000. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 8, 2015.

The case was investigated by the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney John Frail handled the prosecution of this case.

This case is being 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 heroin and prescription drugs.  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 in communities across the Southern District.