Four plead guilty to federal drug charges in Bluefield

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that four men pleaded guilty to federal drug charges in Bluefield.

Joshua Blevins, 30, of Bluefield, pleaded guilty to using a phone to facilitate a felony. He admitted that on Nov. 21, 2014, he was in the Bluewell, West Virginia, area when he had a phone conversation with a confidential informant to help set up a drug deal. Shortly after the call, Blevins distributed oxymorphone to the informant.

Blevins faces up to four years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

Marcus Edwards, 40, of Bluefield, pleaded guilty to distributing hydromorphone to a confidential informant in Bluefield on Aug. 25, 2014.

Leonard Carey Rucker, 44, of Princeton, West Virginia, pleaded guilty to distributing heroin to a confidential informant on Nov. 4, 2014, in Princeton.

Carl E. Howard, Jr., also known as Preacher, 62, of Princeton, pleaded guilty to distributing hydromorphone to a confidential informant on July 8, 2014, in Princeton.

Edwards, Rucker and Howard each face up to 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.

All four men are scheduled to be sentenced on June 25, 2015.

Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber presided over the plea hearings.

The cases are being investigated by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney John File is handling the prosecutions.

The cases are being prosecuted under the Bluefield Pill Initiative, part of the ongoing 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 sale and misuse of opiate painkillers. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing those who engage in illegal drug trafficking in the Southern District.

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