Federal Jury Convicts South Charleston Man of Methamphetamine Conspiracy

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – After two days of trial, a federal jury convicted Timothy Wayne Dodd, 46, of South Charleston, of conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. 

Evidence at trial revealed that Dodd was part of a large volume methamphetamine conspiracy operating in and around St. Albans and South Charleston during the summer of 2021.  Trial testimony revealed that Shane Kelly Fulkerson traveled to Kentucky approximately once per week to obtain 20 or more pounds of methamphetamine at a time.  Dodd was one of his lower level customers who on occasion helped to divide the shipments into pound and half-pound quantities to be distributed to other local dealers. 

Fulkerson was arrested on August 11, 2021 in Putnam County after leading deputy sheriffs on a high-speed motorcycle chase.  Upon being arrested, the deputies found 95 grams of methamphetamine, a pistol, and more than $70,000 in a backpack Fulkerson had strapped to the motorcycle.  The FBI, along with local drug task force officers and the ATF, executed a search warrant at Fulkerson’s residence on August 12, 2021 and seized in excess of eight pounds of methamphetamine and more than 20 firearms. 

Fulkerson pleaded guilty last Tuesday to two counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  He faces a minimum mandatory of 10 years and up to life in federal prison when he is sentenced on June 16, 2022.

Dodd had previously been convicted in federal court in 2002 of attempting to manufacture methamphetamine for which he was sentenced to 151 months imprisonment.  In 2014, Dodd was convicted in Roane County Circuit Court of attempted possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine for which he was sentenced to one to three years imprisonment.  In 2018, he was convicted in Kanawha County Circuit Court of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and was sentenced to one to five years imprisonment. Dodd was also convicted in Kanawha County Circuit Court later in 2018 of conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.  Dodd was on parole at the time he committed the offense of conviction in this case.

“I commend the FBI, the Charleston Police Department, the Kanawha and Putnam County Sheriffs’ Departments, ATF, and MDENT for their excellent work in this case and for their steadfast commitment to keeping our communities safe,” said U.S. Attorney Will Thompson.  “I congratulate Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Hanks and Alex Hamner, and the rest of the trial team for bringing this repeat offender to justice.”

Dodd faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years and up to life in federal prison when he is sentenced on June 16, 2022.

This case is part of a long-term investigation of a methamphetamine distribution network that resulted in 17 individuals being charged with various drug and firearms offenses in three separate indictments in 2021.

James Edward Bennett, III, Denise Marie Cottrill, Angie Lane Harbour, Michael Antonio Smith, and Jason Robert Oxley have already pleaded guilty.  The remaining defendants are scheduled for trial on May 3, 2022. 

United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin presided over the trial. 

This prosecution was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case Nos. 2:21-cr-00172, 2:21-cr-00171, and 2:21-cr-00211.

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