CHARLESTON, W.Va. - United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that James Darnell Walker, 31, of Charleston, pleaded guilty to distribution of heroin. Walker admitted that he sold heroin to a confidential informant working with law enforcement in Charleston on Sept. 23, Sept. 30, and Oct. 11, 2014. On Sept. 1, 2014, Walker was also found to have 600 individual packages of heroin in his possession that he intended to distribute.
United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr., presided over the plea hearing. Sentencing is scheduled for June 24, 2015.
The Charleston Police Department and the West Virginia State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald 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 United States 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
