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Press Release

Mount Jackson Man Sentenced on Cocaine Charge

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Virginia

HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA – United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today the sentencing of a Mount Jackson man on a federal cocaine charge.

Victor Enrique Velez-Sellas, 31, of Mount Jackson, Va., who previously pled guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, was sentenced last week in the United States District court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg to 66 months in federal prison.

“It is a priority of the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute those individuals who distribute illegal drugs in our communities,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “Keeping our neighborhoods safe from drug traffickers, while also providing those struggling with addiction the support they need is a priority for Department of Justice.”

According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Jeb Terrien, between 2013 and February 2015 Velez-Sellas participated in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and traffic in firearms. The defendant often obtained drugs from sources in Puerto Rico, North Carolina and West Virginia. He then sold the drugs, or provided them on consignment, to other drug dealers located in and around Winchester, Virginia. Additionally, the defendant is known to have sold two additional firearms.

Velez-Sellas was arrested on February 18, 2015 by law enforcement officers on Interstate 81 in Frederick County, Virginia while the defendant was in the process of traveling to make a sale of cocaine. At the time of his arrest, the defendant was in possession of a digital scale, a Ruger P89 9mm pistol and 568.2 grams of cocaine.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Northwest Virginia Regional Drug and Gang Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Jeb Terrien prosecuted for the case for the United States.

Updated August 8, 2016

Topic
Drug Trafficking