Detroit woman pleads guilty to federal heroin charge

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Detroit woman who was caught in Huntington with heroin in December 2016 pleaded guilty today to a federal drug crime, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Ebony Inez-Latee Johnson, 43, entered her guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute heroin.

On December 4, 2016, an officer with the Huntington Police Department conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle Johnson was driving at the intersection of 9th Avenue and 10th Street in Huntington. During the stop, the officer located a bag containing approximately 23 grams of heroin that was concealed in Johnson’s jacket pocket. The heroin was packaged in 43 individually wrapped bags, and Johnson admitted at her plea hearing that the heroin was intended for distribution.

Johnson further admitted at the hearing that, on April 14, 2016, a trooper with the Michigan State Police conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle operated by Johnson in Taylor, Michigan. The trooper seized approximately 124 grams of heroin and 135 thirty mg oxycodone tablets from the vehicle.

Johnson faces up to 20 years in federal prison when she is sentenced on July 31, 2017.

The Huntington FBI Drug Task Force and the Huntington Police Department conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Michigan State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams is handling the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.

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 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.

• Follow us on Twitter: SDWVNews