HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - A Huntington man was sentenced yesterday to four years in federal prison for his role in a heroin distribution conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Booth Goodwin. Forty-nine-year-old Rickey Ray Rockwell previously pleaded guilty in November 2013 to conspiracy to distribute heroin before Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers in Huntington federal court.
Between November 2010 and July 2011, Rockwell participated with convicted felons Kevin Luthor Robinson and Jermaine D. Dickerson to distribute heroin in and around the Huntington area.
Rockwell told police that during the illegal drug scheme, he controlled the door to a Huntington residence that was primarily used as a place to distribute illegal drugs. Rockwell also completed illegal heroin transactions on behalf of Robinson and Dickerson. Afterward, Rockwell gave the drug proceeds to his co-conspirators at the completion of the drug transactions.
Robinson, 44, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison in March 2013 for his role in the illegal drug conspiracy. Dickerson, 36, was also sentenced in March 2013 to 15 years and nine months in federal prison. Robinson and Dickerson, both of Columbus, previously pleaded guilty in December 2012 to conspiracy to distribute heroin and 28 grams or more of crack cocaine.
During the scheme, Robinson and Dickerson arranged frequent trips to Columbus to purchase heroin and cocaine. The illegal drugs were then brought to Huntington and sold. The defendants also utilized several Huntington residences to store, prepare and package illegal drugs during the fall of 2010 through July 2011.
This case was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the Huntington Police Department, and the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams handled the prosecution.
This case was prosecuted 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. 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 opiate painkillers in communities across the Southern District.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
