Dunbar heroin dealer pleads guilty to federal drug crime

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Dunbar man pleaded guilty today to a federal heroin crime, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Christian Bowles, 24, entered his guilty plea to distribution of heroin.

Bowles admitted that on March 24, 2015, he sold over four grams of heroin to a confidential informant working with law enforcement in exchange for $1,000. Bowles made the drug deal outside of his Dunbar residence. He further admitted that he was involved in the distribution of up to 20 grams of heroin.

Bowles faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on December 5, 2016.

The Charleston Police Department’s Special Enforcement Unit conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John J. Frail is handling the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr.

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.