Operation Mountaineer Highway Update: Fayette County Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Federal Drug Crime
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Mike Stuart announced today that a Fayette County man was sentenced on his conviction for conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, and oxycodone. Greg Coleman, 43, of Scarbro, was sentenced to 300 months, or 25 years, in federal prison. Stuart commended the cooperative investigative efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Central West Virginia Drug Task Force, with the support of the West Virginia State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, the Beckley/Raleigh County Drug Task Force, the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, the Fayetteville Police Department, and the Oak Hill Police Department.
“25 years in federal prison. 25 years. To put it in perspective, 25 years ago, there wasn’t an iPhone and Bill Clinton was in his first term. This is a significant sentence for a significant crime,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “Coleman, already a felon, was a major poly-drug dealer with an arsenal of firearms. All that got him was a very long sentence in federal prison.”
At an earlier hearing, Coleman admitted that between October 2017 and July 31, 2018, he worked with other members of a drug trafficking organization operating in Fayette County to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, and oxycodone pills. Coleman admitted that during this time period, he distributed approximately three kilograms of heroin, approximately one-and-a-half kilograms of methamphetamine, and about 3000 oxycodone pills in and around the Southern District of West Virginia. Coleman also previously admitted that on July 16, 2018 he consented to a search of his residence by law enforcement officers. During the search, officers recovered 182 grams of heroin that Coleman had just obtained from another member of the drug trafficking organization and multiple guns. Coleman knew he was prohibited from possessing any firearms due to a prior felony conviction in Fayette County, West Virginia Circuit Court. As part of his plea agreement, Coleman agreed to forfeit 65 firearms to the United States.
The prosecution of Coleman culminated from a joint investigation conducted by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies known as Mountaineer Highway.
Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy D. Boggess and Andrew J. Tessman handled the prosecution. United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence.
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