Jesse Robert Phillips, a 40-year-old man from Detroit, Michigan, has been sentenced to nine years and seven months in prison. This will be followed by three years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Court documents reveal that on April 30, 2024, law enforcement responded to a disturbance call at Phillips' residence in Mount Hope, West Virginia. Officers seized four firearms and two bags containing nearly 20 grams of fentanyl analogue from his bedroom.
Phillips admitted to possessing the fentanyl with the intention to distribute it. He also confessed to selling fentanyl and using two other residents, Robert Lee Moran and Kayla Nicole Dent, to sell the drug while living in West Virginia.
Moran, aged 47 from Mount Hope, received a nine-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release for distributing fentanyl. Dent, aged 34 also from Mount Hope, was sentenced to five years of federal probation including six months on home detention after pleading guilty earlier this year.
Phillips' criminal history includes previous convictions for armed robbery and multiple drug offenses.
Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston announced the sentencing and praised the investigative efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) along with the Beckley/Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Unit. This unit comprises officers from various departments including the West Virginia State Police and Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department.
Chief United States District Judge Frank W. Volk delivered the sentence while Assistant United States Attorneys Brian D. Parsons and Alexander A. Redmon prosecuted the case.
Further details can be accessed via PACER under Case No. 5:24-cr-142 or through the U.S. Attorney’s Office website for Southern District of West Virginia.
