LaShawn Monroe, a 31-year-old Detroit native, was sentenced to life in federal prison for leading a multi-state drug trafficking organization, according to a July 1 announcement by U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.
Monroe managed an operation that distributed fentanyl and other controlled substances across West Virginia, Michigan, California, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He recruited couriers to transport drugs from California to West Virginia and Michigan and oversaw at least eight re-distributors who sold drugs in Monongalia and Marion Counties with an estimated street value of $812,000.
“Monroe put money above lives, selling enough fentanyl to kill approximately 4.8 million people—two and a half times the population of West Virginia,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey. “His sentence should serve as a warning to anyone who thinks they can profit by endangering West Virginians.” FBI Pittsburgh Assistant Special Agent in Charge Amie Loos said, “Drug trafficking groups succeed when people believe it’s too far away, too large, or too sophisticated to fight back. This sentencing proves that is not the case.”
Special Agent in Charge Jim Scott of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Louisville Field Division said, “Drug traffickers like LaShawn Monroe prove time and again that they have no regard for human life; driven by greed, they sow misery in our communities, destroy lives and prey on society’s most vulnerable… The sentence handed down today should give Mr. Monroe time to reflect on the harm he has caused to numerous families and hopefully turn his life around once he regains his freedom.”
Authorities executed search warrants at Monroe’s residences in Morgantown and Fairmont, where three loaded firearms were seized along with 8.8 kilograms of methamphetamine, 7.54 kilograms of fentanyl (one of the largest seizures in state history), 1.1 kilograms of crack cocaine, 1.94 kilograms of cocaine, and 412 grams of heroin.
The investigation was led by the Mon Metro Drug Task Force with support from DEA offices in Detroit, Columbus, and Cleveland; Assistant U.S. Attorney Zelda E. Wesley prosecuted the case before Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh.