Four defendants appear in Bluefield federal court on drug charges

Two sentenced, two plead guilty

Bluefield, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that four defendants appeared before Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber in federal court in Bluefield on drug charges.

David Eldon Williams, 56, of Lewisburg, West Virginia, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for using a communication device to facilitate a felony. Williams pleaded guilty in August 2014, admitting that on April 25, 2014, he used a telephone in Lewisburg to communicate with a confidential informant to set up the purchase of several hundred oxycodone pills. Williams and his co-defendant, Roger Lee Deem, were arrested the next day in Princeton, West Virginia, after meeting with the informant to complete the transaction. Deem was previously sentenced to 18 months for his role in the crime.

The case was investigated by the Greenbrier Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force as part of the Greenbrier Valley Heroin and Pill Initiative. Assisting in the investigation was the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.

Tashaey Mitchell Jones, 25, of Hickory, North Carolina, was sentenced to 16 months in prison for aiding and abetting the distribution of hydromorphone. Jones pleaded guilty in October 2014, and admitted that on May 7, 2013, she helped to distribute five hydromorphone pills to an informant in Bluefield.

The case was investigated by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force as part of the Bluefield Pill Initiative.

Julie Walters, 36, of Bluefield, pleaded guilty to distribution of a quantity of hydromorphone.  Walters admitted that on May 29, 2014, she distributed a hydromorphone pill to a confidential informant in Brushfork in Mercer County, West Virginia. She also admitted that she had sold approximately 13 hydromorphone pills over a period of time.

Walters faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine when she is sentenced on May 14, 2015.

The case was investigated by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force as part of the Bluefield Pill Initiative.

Regina Conley, 33, of Princeton, pled guilty to distribution of oxycodone, admitting that on August 27, 2014, she distributed six 30 mg oxycodone pills to a confidential informant in Princeton. She also admitted that she either sold or possessed for sale a total of about 55 oxycodone pills.

Conley faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine when she is sentenced on May 14, 2015.

The case was investigated by the Greenbrier Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, assisted by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.  It was prosecuted as part of the Greenbrier Valley Heroin and Pill and Initiative.

Assistant United States Attorney John File handled the prosecution of these cases.

The cases are 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.  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.