Nitro meth dealer pleads guilty to federal drug crime

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Nitro man caught selling methamphetamine while on federal supervised release pleaded guilty today to a drug crime, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. John F. Parrish, Jr., 55, entered his guilty plea to distribution of methamphetamine.

Parrish admitted that on August 18, 2016, he sold methamphetamine to a confidential informant working with law enforcement. The drug deal took place at the Exxon One Stop gas station on Goff Mountain Road in Cross Lanes. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s laboratory analyzed the methamphetamine and determined that it was at least 95% pure.

Parrish faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on August 23, 2017.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Clint Carte is responsible for the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr.

This case was brought 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 illegal drugs, including methamphetamine. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of illegal drugs in communities across the Southern District.

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