Press Release
Four Defendants Sentenced In Federal Court In Bluefield
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of West Virginia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 65, 2014
Bluefield, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber sentenced four defendants in federal court in Bluefield. Steven Eugene Champ, 41, of Matoaka, West Virginia was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for distribution of hydromorphone. Champ pled guilty in May of 2014, admitting that on September 24, 2012, he sold hydromorphone pills to a confidential informant in Princeton, West Virginia. Champ also admitted that he sold a total of 1710 hydromorphone pills between July of 2012 and February of 2013. His case was investigated by the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.
Elijah Abdul Jones, 36, of Bluefield, West Virginia was sentenced to two years in prison for distribution of cocaine base, also known as “crack.” Jones pled guilty in May of 2014, and admitted that he sold a small quantity of cocaine base to a confidential informant in Bluefield on July 23, 2013. He also admitted that he sold more cocaine base and heroin on other occasions. His case was investigated by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.
These cases were part of the Bluefield Pill Initiative, an effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the sale of heroin and the illicit use and sale of prescription drugs in the Bluefield area.
Michael Johnson, 23, an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution at McDowell, was sentenced to 15 months, consecutive to his current sentence, for attempting to obtain a prohibited object in prison. Johnson pled guilty in September of 2014, and admitted that on May 14, 2014, he attempted to obtain 47 suboxone strips which contain buprenorphine, a narcotic drug. He further admitted that he attempted to obtain additional suboxone strips on other occasions. His case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Michael Thompson, 34, also an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution at McDowell, was sentenced to eight months, consecutive to his current sentence, for possession of a prohibited object by an inmate. When Thompson pled guilty in September of 2014, he admitted that he had a small quantity of marijuana in his possession when he was searched by prison officials on June 10, 2014. His case was also investigated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
These cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John File.
Updated January 7, 2015
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