HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - A Huntington drug dealer residing in close proximity to Marshall University pleaded guilty today to a federal heroin crime, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto. Derrick Linwood Thomas, 25, entered his guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute heroin within 1,000 feet of a university.
On March 21, 2016, officers with the Huntington Police Department executed a search warrant at 213 19th Street in Huntington. Thomas admitted this was his residence and that it was located within 1,000 feet of Marshall University. Officers found Thomas in the residence and seized over 15 grams of heroin from his pants. Officers also seized four additional bags of heroin weighing approximately 2 grams, $950 in cash that included $70 in marked currency from a previous controlled drug purchase, a.32 caliber pistol, and a shotgun. Thomas was arrested and admitted that he had been distributing heroin in the Huntington area.
Thomas faces up to 40 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 26, 2016.
The Huntington Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams is handling the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.
This prosecution was brought 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
