Drug Trafficking Story Archives - Page 3 of 6 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Delegates Debate Over Increased Penalties for Drug Trafficking

Members in the House of Delegates have considered a number of bills this legislative session that increase the penalties for breaking various laws. At least three of those bills have focused on drug crimes which Republican lawmakers say is in response to the state’s substance abuse epidemic.

According to the West Virginia Health Statistics Center, 818 people died of a drug overdose in 2016 – a nearly 13 percent increase over the previous year. The Center also reports 86 percent of those deaths in 2016 were linked to at least one opioid.

Those growing numbers are why Republican legislative leaders say they’re pursuing bills like House Bill 2579.

The bill increases the minimum amount of jail-time attached to a drug trafficking offense, or someone who gets caught bringing drugs into the state. The minimum sentence would increase from one to ten years, the maximum from fifteen to thirty years. A judge would have the option to fine the offender $25,000, incarcerate, or both.

A handful of members in the House who spoke against the bill argue the penalties are too high and would end up catching addicts rather than traffickers coming in from out-of-state.

“So if you have a kid that’s an addict, and goes next door, grabs prescription drugs, comes back to a party, and they spread it around, they’ve just committed this offense,” said Democratic Delegate Isaac Sponaugle, “and they’re looking at a minimum of 10 years to 30 years in the penitentiary. That’s outrageous.”

Sponaugle pointed out the minimum sentence under this bill is the same minimum for committing a second degree murder.

Supporters of the bill, argue the increased penalties will be a deterrent and help keep dealers out of the state – protecting West Virginia citizens.

“If we do not increase this and hold a bigger hammer over their head to try to get cooperation to catch the bigger fish per say, then we’re losing,” said Republican Delegate Ray Hollen of Wirt County, “We have to have leverage to do our job and to let the police officers do their job, and the prosecutors, and the judges.”

Hollen is also a retired West Virginia State Police Sergeant.

After an hour of debate, House Bill 2579 passed 88 to 10 and moves across the rotunda to the Senate.

Arrests vs. Treatment: Delegates Debate Drug Trafficking Bill

A bill increasing penalties for drug traffickers was largely the focus of the House floor session Friday. The bill is part of the House leadership’s plans to crack down on people selling drugs in West Virginia to curb the substance abuse epidemic.

House Bill 2648 would increase the penalties for trafficking or manufacturing a controlled substance while in the presence of a minor, making it a felony. The bill carries a penalty of a three year prison term without the ability to receive parole.

The state Division of Corrections was asked to estimate the cost of the bill, but in the fiscal note, the division said they were unable to estimate how many new offenders would be sentenced. The division did say, however, that each new offender would cost the state about $28,000 per year.

The high cost was a concern for some lawmakers, including Delegate Larry Rowe, a Democrat from Kanawha County. Rowe says it’s unlikely most of the people convicted under the bill would be major drug traffickers, but addicts who need treatment.

“Every single day we’ve been in here, except the first few, we have had a bill to raise the penalties on a crime that already exists,” Rowe noted, “We’ve just got to stop doing it, and the economic argument’s very, very wise. We are spending a fortune on corrections; we are being ruined by the amounts of money we spend on corrections as crisis response, when we ought to be spending that same amount of money on prevention.”

Delegate Kelli Sobonya, a Republican from Cabell County, is one of the sponsors of the bill. She argued protecting children in the state, no matter the cost, is what’s important.

“We can talk about the cost of incarceration, but you know, we pass legislation and penalties for two reasons, to be used as a deterrent if it’s high enough, it can be a deterrent, hopefully, you know, people won’t do that behavior, but you know, most likely addicts, they’re gonna do it anyway, because they’re addicted. They make those bad decisions, because they do have an addiction,” Sobonya said, “But you know, for instances like this, I think, you know, that parents need to be held responsible for endangering their children.”

Delegate Mike Pushkin, a Democrat from Kanawha County, opposed the bill, because he says it does nothing to assist in the treatment of addiction, which is where lawmakers should be focused if they want to curb substance abuse in the state.

“These folks aren’t thinking in the long term. They’re not thinking about the penalty, they’re thinking about what’s right in front of ‘em,” Pushkin explained, “And, while I wish this bill, this legislation, would put an end to these stories that we’re hearing; I’m afraid that it will not, and what it will do is put a lot more people who could possibly benefit from treatment; it’s gonna give them longer sentences; not allow them to parole.”

Del. John Shott, R-Mercer, House Judiciary Chair.

Several lawmakers questioned House Judiciary Chair John Shott about hypothetical situations that could come up should the bill take effect. Shott says while those situations may deserve consideration, the law allows local prosecutors some discretion.

“There’s always a hypothetical that pulls at your heartstring in these cases,” Shott noted, “There’s always a hypothetical, but those hypotheticals are based on the absolute worst case scenario. They’re based on an assumption that our prosecutors don’t deserve our trust, they’re based on the assumption that we don’t have any trust or confidence in the legal system to do the right thing, or the common sense and good judgement of our jurors to see through our situation, and do the proper result, or in our judges.”

After over an hour of debate, House Bill 2648 passed 85 to 12 and now moves onto the Senate for consideration.

Deadly Floods Voted Top News Story of 2016 in West Virginia

A National Weather Service meteorologist called it a “1-in-1,000-year” storm. By the time it was over, 23 West Virginians were dead.

Flooding that ravaged the state in late June was voted the No. 1 news story in 2016 in West Virginia by Associated Press member newspapers and broadcasters.

The sentencing of former Massey CEO Don Blankenship and his subsequent appeal was voted second, and the state’s substance abuse epidemic was third.

The floods destroyed or damaged thousands of homes, businesses, roads and bridges; prompted a massive response from volunteers and organizations; and dominated headlines for months. President Barack Obama issued a disaster declaration for a dozen counties.

“The June 2016 floods were a natural disaster of the magnitude that many West Virginians had never witnessed before,” said Lauren McGill, metro editor at The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington. “The number of deaths and the extent of the destruction caused by the flooding shocked the entire state, and will not be soon forgotten.”

Leslie Rubin, a reporter at WCHS-TV in Charleston, said the flooding “was something unlike anything I had ever seen. There were countless stories of hope and help that showed what it really means to be a West Virginian. On the other end of that, it is still painful to see the effects of the flood that will forever leave a mark on our state.”

West Virginia’s ongoing struggles with substance abuse also received votes.

But the story line finished just shy of overtaking Blankenship, who is serving a one-year sentence after being convicted of misdemeanor conspiracy for what prosecutors called a series of willful safety violations before the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 men. Before his appeal was heard in October, Blankenship released a manifesto from prison declaring himself a political prisoner.

Among the substance abuse stories this year included the heroin overdoses of more than two dozen people in a five-hour span in Huntington in August. Two people died. Elected leaders, communities, and health- and faith-based groups are seeking ways to end the scourge of drug addiction.

“The substance abuse issue is one that impacts every state resident, in every county and from every demographic category,” said John McCabe, managing editor of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register. “It’s ripping families apart, leaving children to be raised by grandparents, or, worse, in the foster care system. This is one of our defining issues at this time, and as a community, we need to tackle it head-on.”

Rounding out West Virginia’s top 10 stories were:

— Greenbrier resort owner Jim Justice, a Democrat, is elected governor over Republican Bill Cole.

— West Virginia voters overwhelmingly choose Republican Donald Trump for president over Hillary Clinton. Trump’s win nationally gives hope to coal communities that have seen economic downturns in recent decades.

— A January blizzard dumps 42 inches of snow in parts of West Virginia.

— Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, daughter of Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, is grilled on Capitol Hill about the sky-high price of lifesaving EpiPens and the profits for her company.

— After months of stalled negotiations on balancing the state budget, lawmakers in mid-June opt to bank on higher taxes on cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products to raise about $98 million a year.

— Buoyed by Trump’s popularity, Republicans maintain their control of West Virginia’s Legislature, while the GOP wins four of the six statewide offices.

— Coal companies including Alpha Natural Resources and Blackhawk Mining announce the additional layoffs of hundreds of miners in West Virginia as the industry’s downtown continues.

Federal Prosecutor in West Virginia Stepping Down

The top federal prosecutor responsible for the northern district of West Virginia says he will resign at year’s end.

U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld, appointed six years ago by Democratic President Barack Obama, says he’ll return to private law practice.

Republican President-elect Donald Trump is expected to choose his own slate of top federal prosecutors around the nation, though some may stay on.

Ihlenfeld says his office’s prosecutions have disrupted drug rings trafficking into West Virginia, convicted doctors improperly prescribing painkillers and uncovered highway bid rigging.

Others cases stopped embezzlements, health care frauds, bank money laundering and excessive use of force by authorities and resulted in numerous convictions for interstate domestic violence, stalking and illegal gun possession by domestic abusers.

He says his office’s litigators recovered nearly $50 million on behalf of victims.

New Program Aimed at Drug Traffickers Shows Promise

West Virginia officials say a recent focus on combatting heroin in the state’s eastern panhandle is off to a strong start.

The Journal of Martinsburg reports that a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program was launched in Berkeley and Jefferson counties in June.

As part of the federally funded initiative, authorities have been focusing both on cracking down on trafficking and on identifying people who need treatment.

West Virginia State Police Capt. Eric Widmyer says the money has helped departments fund more road patrols and find more drugs. State troopers seized more than $200,000 of drugs in June.

The HIDTA federal grant program started in 1988 with the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act and gives funds to areas designated at a high risk for drug trafficking.

Man Charged with Possessing Nearly 600 Oxycodone Pills

Federal authorities say a Bridgeport man has been charged with possessing nearly 600 Oxycodone pills.

The U.S. attorney’s office says 26-year-old Suhip E. Ebrahim was arrested Saturday on a charge of possession with intent to distribute Oxycodone.

Officers from the Ohio Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and the Marshall County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force said Ebrahim was arrested in the Wheeling area in possession of the pills and more than $100,000.

Ebrahim made an initial appearance in federal court Saturday before U.S. Magistrate Judge James E. Seibert. He is currently being held without bond. Online court records do not show if he has a lawyer.

Two other defendants were also arrested. They are facing charges in state court.