BLUEFIELD, W.Va. - United States Attorney Mike Stuart announced today that two men pled guilty to drug charges in federal court in Bluefield. James Kelsor, 46, of Northfork, pled guilty to distribution of cocaine, admitting that on Sept. 30, 2016, he distributed one-half gram of cocaine to an informant in Bluefield. He also admitted that he distributed cocaine to an informant in Bluefield on October 3 and October 5, 2016. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on April 2, 2019. The case was investigated by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.
Benjamin Allen III, 31, of Princeton, pled guilty to distributing hydromorphone. Allen admitted that on Jan. 10, 2017, he distributed a hydromorphone pill to an informant in Princeton. He also admitted that he distributed hydromorphone pills on two other occasions in Princeton in January of 2017 and once in Bluefield in March of 2017, and that he possessed hydrocodone and hydromorphone pills with the intent to distribute them on March 28, 2017, at his residence in Princeton. Allen faces up to 210 months in prison when he is sentenced on April 2, 2019. The case was investigated by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, the Bluefield Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“Substance use disorder plagues every county in our state," said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “But in our southernmost counties that have been particularly ravaged by the drug epidemic, we are working with our law enforcement partners to prosecute peddlers of all poisons."
Assistant United State Attorney John File is handling the prosecution of both cases. Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber presided over the plea hearings.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
