News

Two men appeared in federal court this week on charges involving child pornography and sex offender registration, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey. Robert Allen Welborn, 58, of Joppatowne, Maryland, was sentenced to 37 months in prison for failing to update his sex offender registration. 

A Baltimore, Maryland man will spend the next five years in federal prison for selling fentanyl in Harrison County, West Virginia, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey. Paul Samuel Williams, 27, was sentenced today to 60 months for distribution of 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

An Oklahoma man has admitted to wire fraud for his role in a scheme that targeted the Ohio Valley Industrial & Business Development Corporation, doing business as the Regional Economic Development Partnership (RED), a private, non-profit development corporation based in Wheeling, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.

The United States Attorney’s Offices for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia announced today that West Virginia United Health System, Inc., doing business as West Virginia University Health System (WVUHS), has agreed to pay $4,177,139 and enter a Memorandum of Agreement to resolve civil allegations that it violated multiple provisions of the Controlled Substances Act across various registered facilities over a seven-year span.

After selling methamphetamine from her New Martinsville, West Virginia apartment, Jamie Ann Tanner was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.

A Harrison County man was sentenced for selling fentanyl and methamphetamine while carrying firearms, U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey announced. Matthew Ryan Lester, 34, of Clarksburg, West Virginia, was sentenced to 180 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and more than 40 grams of fentanyl, and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime.

The final defendant in a drug trafficking operation that stretched from Cleveland, Ohio, to the Ohio Valley was sentenced today, U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey announced. Joshua Carney, 32, of Wheeling, West Virginia, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine base, fentanyl, and heroin and the distribution of 5 grams or more of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a protected location.

An Ohio man who transported methamphetamine to Wetzel County, West Virginia will spend 10 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey. Kyle Thomas Bryan, 33, of Warren, Ohio, was sentenced to 120 months today for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. 

Former college basketball player and Estonian national Kerr Kriisa was arrested and will appear in federal court this week on five counts of wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey. According to court documents, from 2022 through June 2, 2026, Kriisa, 25, in Monongalia County, West Virginia and elsewhere, allegedly carried out a scheme to obtain nearly $2.2 million from multiple victims using false representations, fabricated identities, and deceptive communications. 

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – A Clarksburg, West Virginia man has admitted to making threats against President Donald J. Trump and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Detroit native, LaShawn Monroe, 31, has been sentenced to life in federal prison for leading a multi-state drug trafficking operation, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – A Clarksburg man will spend the next 15 years in federal prison for leading a drug operation that sold fentanyl and methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey announced today.

Thomas Charles Goodwine, 32, was sentenced to 188 months.