CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A Charleston man was sentenced to 52 months in prison for a federal drug crime, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Steven Craig Coleman, 31, previously pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin. Stuart commended the investigation conducted by the Charleston Police Department, South Charleston Police Department, and Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT).
“Tragic," said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “Coleman, who has a 2016 involuntary manslaughter conviction for distributing heroin to a woman who suffered a fatal overdose, was at it again. Too many West Virginians have lost their lives because of these deadly drugs and poison peddlers like Coleman."
As established by public court filings and hearings, in July 2017, police investigators learned from a confidential source that Coleman was selling several ounces of heroin from his house on 7th Avenue in Charleston. On July 20, 2017, Coleman sold a confidential informant a substance containing fentanyl. A week later, investigators executed a search warrant at Coleman’s house, where they found several thousand dollars in drug proceeds and over 30 grams of methamphetamine outside of an open window near Coleman.
On August 8, 2018, police again met Coleman at his house and he gave them permission to search his room. Coleman directed an investigator to where he was hiding his drugs. Police ultimately found close to 10 grams of drug mixtures containing heroin, fentanyl, and acetyl fentanyl, a deadly fentanyl analogue. Coleman was previously convicted for involuntary manslaughter in 2016 for distributing heroin to a woman, causing a fatal overdose.
Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber imposed the sentence. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Drew O. Inman.
Follow us on Twitter: SDWVNews
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
