Two Greenbrier County heroin dealers sentenced

Beckley, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that two men involved in distributing heroin in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, were sentenced in federal court.

Joshua Osborne, 31, of Lima, Ohio, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for traveling in interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity. Osborne pleaded guilty in July 2014, admitting that on Sept. 1, 2013, he traveled from Alderson, West Virginia, to Columbus, Ohio, where he obtained heroin and returned to Alderson. He admitted to placing the heroin into capsules, with the intention to sell them. Osborne also admitted to having made previous trips to Columbus to obtain heroin, and having brought it back to Alderson where he sold it.

Adam Ray Smith, 26, of Ronceverte, West Virginia, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for distribution of heroin. Smith pleaded guilty in July 2014, admitting that on Aug. 30, 2013, he sold two packets of heroin to an individual in Ronceverte.

United States District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentences. Assistant United States Attorney John File was in charge of the prosecution for both cases.

This case was prosecuted under the Beckley Pill Initiative 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 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 markets and curtailing the spread of pills and heroin in communities across the Southern District.