BECKLEY, W.Va. – The Department of Justice announced that two people have plead guilty to their roles in a Beckley drug trafficking organization. The news was announced in a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sept. 26.
According to the DOJ, 48-year-old Christopher Michael Shepherd and 47-year-old Kimberly Rosetta Logan, both from Beckley, pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl. Both were part of a drug trafficking organization that distributed methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine base, known as “crack, in Beckley and in other areas in the Southern District of West Virginia, the DOJ said.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 24, Shepherd arranged to exchange around 8.5 grams of heroin with co-defendant Tilford Joe Bradley Jr. for around 8.5 grams of fentanyl. Shepherd and Bradley met at a gas station near Beckley and exchanged the substances, the DOJ said. The transaction was witnessed by law enforcement, and conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle Shepherd was driving not long after.
The DOJ said Shepherd admitted that he threw a bag of controlled substances from the vehicle while officers conducted the traffic stop.
Officers found and seized the 150 grams of fentanyl, 53 grams of methamphetamine, 1.7 grams of crack, and $4,007 during the traffic stop, the DOJ said. Shepherd also admitted to possessing the seized substances and planned to distribute them, the DOJ said.
The DOJ said Logan admitted to selling some fentanyl to a confidential informant at her house in Beckley on April 10. Logan also admitted to distributing additional amounts of fentanyl and cocaine to other people while using some herself, the DOJ said.
Logan ordered an average of 8 grams of fentanyl and 4 grams of cocaine per week from her supplier in Beckley, according to the DOJ.
Shepherd and Logan are scheduled to be sentenced on January 31, 2025, and they both face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release, and a one million dollar fine.
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