Defendant Caught with Hydrocodone, Cash and Stolen Firearms
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A Jackson County man who possessed hydrocodone and stolen firearms pleaded guilty today to federal charges, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. Hubert Dwayne Messer, 43, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and possession of stolen firearms in federal court in Charleston.
In February of 2013, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at Messer’s Stonelick Road residence in Gay, West Virginia and seized hydrocodone, more than $35,000, and five stolen firearms. Messer admitted distributing oxycodone in and around Jackson County from at least 2004 until February 2013.
Messer faces up to 30 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on August 6, 2014.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks is in charge of the prosecution.
This case is being 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 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 drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District. The case is also brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in the United States by networking existing local programs targeting gun crime.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
