Source: United States Department of Justice News
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Kentucky man pleaded guilty today to a role in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) responsible for distributing methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine and marijuana in Parkersburg and elsewhere.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Robert Sanders, Jr., 31, of Ashland, Kentucky, admitted to supplying Matthew Edward Depew and Carlo Ramsey with methamphetamine that was then re-distributed by Depew and Ramsey in the Parkersburg area between June and September 2021. Depew previously admitted to acquiring several pounds of methamphetamine on consignment from Sanders and distributing it to third-party customers.
Sanders pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 3, 2022, and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison as well as least five years of supervised release and a $10 million fine.
Depew, Carlo Ramsey, Floyd Dermonta Ramsey, Era Dawn Corder, and Ambera Roberts previously pleaded guilty to felony charges in United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, as a result of a nearly year-long investigation dubbed “Long Time Coming.” All defendants are awaiting sentencing. The investigation also resulted in more than a dozen arrests on state criminal complaints in Wood County.
United States Attorney William S. Thompson made the announcement and commended the excellent investigative work of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Parkersburg Narcotics Task Force (PNTF), the Parkersburg Police Department, the West Virginia State Police, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Vienna Police Department, the Williamstown Police Department, the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department, the Boyd County, Kentucky, Sheriff’s Department, the Russell, Kentucky, Police Department and the Raceland, Kentucky, Police Department.
Senior United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy B. Wolfe is handling the prosecution.
The investigation was part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-163.
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