South Charleston man pleads guilty to federal drug charge

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A South Charleston man pleaded guilty today to a federal drug charge, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin.  Michael Andrew Rude, 34, pleaded guilty in federal court in Charleston to possessing heroin with the intent to distribute it.  Rude admitted that on April 23, 2015, he had heroin at his home in South Charleston that he intended to sell.  Rude also admitted that he had sold heroin to a confidential informant working with law enforcement on several other occasions in April.

Rude faces up to twenty years of imprisonment when he is sentenced on October 1, 2015.

The investigation was conducted by the Metro Drug Enforcement Network Team. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald is in charge of the prosecution.

This case is 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 and heroin.  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 pills and heroin in communities across the Southern District.