Three individuals have been sentenced for their involvement in a drug trafficking organization that distributed fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties. The case is part of a larger indictment from January 2024 that charged 82 defendants, including Gary Brown, Jr.
Bradley David Welsh, 53, of Boonsboro, Maryland received a sentence of 57 months in federal prison. David Lewis Pennington, Jr., 21, of Huntington, West Virginia was sentenced to 87 months. Lynn Wood Campbell, 45, of Martinsburg, West Virginia received an 84-month sentence.
According to court records, out of the original 82 defendants in this case, 81 have been convicted. A total of 77 individuals have now been sentenced. In May 2025, Gary Brown Jr., who played a leading role in the operation according to investigators (https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/investigators-dismantle-fentanyl-drug-trafficking-network-eastern-panhandle), was given a sentence of 327 months in federal prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lara Omps-Botteicher and Kyle Kane prosecuted the cases on behalf of the government. U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided over the proceedings.
The investigation involved multiple agencies: Federal Bureau of Investigation (Pittsburgh Field Division and Baltimore Field Division), Drug Enforcement Administration; Department of Homeland Security Investigations; United States Postal Inspection Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; United States Marshals Service; Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force—a HIDTA-funded initiative—West Virginia State Police; West Virginia Air National Guard; Jefferson County Sheriff's Office; Berkeley County Sheriff's Office; Ranson Police Department; Martinsburg Police Department; Charles Town Police Department; Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office; Stafford County Sheriff's Office (Virginia); Frederick County Sheriff's Offices (Maryland and Virginia); Winchester Police Department; and Clarke County Sheriff's Office (Virginia).
The investigation is part of Operation Take Back America. According to officials: "Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN)."
