CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Two defendants appeared today in federal court in Charleston on heroin charges, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto.
Antoine Maurice Brown, 32, of Charleston, was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for distribution of heroin. Brown previously pleaded guilty in November 2015 to the federal drug crime. Brown admitted that on June 26, 2013, he sold heroin to a confidential informant working with law enforcement. The drug deal took place in the 7-Eleven parking lot on Washington Street, East, in Charleston.
Michael Shepard, 23, of Beckley, pleaded guilty to distributing heroin. Shepard admitted that on January 7, 2015, he sold heroin to a confidential informant cooperating with law enforcement. The drug deal took place on Hartley Avenue in Beckley. Shepard faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced on June 8, 2016.
The investigation of Brown was conducted by the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team. United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr., imposed the sentence.
The Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force conducted the investigation of Shepard. The plea hearing was held before United States District Judge Irene C. Berger.
These cases were 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.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
