ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA - The government has forfeited a house in Elkins, West Virginia, that was used to facilitate a clandestine methamphetamine operation, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen announced.
The forfeiture complaint filed by the government alleged that an investigation by the Mountain Region Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force revealed that the house, located at 451 Central Street, was determined to have been purchased with proceeds obtained from a large-scale methamphetamine operation, and was used by occupants of the house to sell narcotics.
A criminal investigation of the occupants of the house and others resulted in an indictment, unsealed in October 2016, that charged 20 individuals from Virginia and West Virginia with conspiring with one another to operate a methamphetamine distribution ring in the region. To date, 14 individuals have been sentenced to a combined 1,107 months incarceration for their participation in the methamphetamine distribution operation.
The forfeiture demonstrates the United States’ intent to better the community by pursing actions to obtain property purchased and used by those trafficking in narcotics. The property will receive maintenance and repairs before being offered for public sale.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Danae DeMasi-Lemon filed the complaint and secured the forfeiture on behalf of the government.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.
The related criminal prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen D. Warner on behalf of the government and investigated by the Mountain Region Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
