MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Three men have been sentenced to a combined 48 years in federal prison for trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.
Patrick Stickley, 38, of Falling Waters, West Virginia, was sentenced to 360 months in federal prison. Charles Lawrence Stevens, 33, of Winchester, Virginia, was sentenced to 106 months in prison. Both men were involved in a drug trafficking operation selling methamphetamine. Stickley had several others accepting mailed packages of drugs on his behalf for Stickley to then sell in Berkeley County. Stevens was the intended recipient of a package containing nearly two pounds of methamphetamine. The package was intercepted by the U.S. Postal Service and the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force. A search warrant was executed at Stickley’s residence and officers seized 10 pounds of marijuana and 15 firearms.
Gerard Joseph Fitch, III, 36, of Augusta, West Virginia, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for the distribution of more than 5 grams of methamphetamine. Fitch sold 27 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in Hampshire County. He has a history of drug trafficking.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the cases on behalf of the United States.
Investigative agencies include the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the Potomac Highlands Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; HSI Cherry Hill/Joint Camden Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
These cases are part of Operation Take Back America , a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime, and repel the invasion of illegal immigration.
U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Northern District of West Virginia — U.S. Department of Justice press release.