Tag: U.S. Attorney’s Office

Ihlenfeld To Chair Washington-Baltimore Drug Trafficking Board

In 2022, the units disrupted the sale of more than $100 million of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine.

U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld has been appointed chair of the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) executive board.

That board supports 43 drug task forces in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. In addition to drug seizures, they also bolster treatment and prevention efforts.

In 2022, the units disrupted the sale of more than $100 million of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Ihlenfeld, the U.S. attorney for the northern district of West Virginia, said he’d work to strengthen the response to the threat of Mexican drug cartels.

Ihlenfeld previously served as chair of the Appalachian High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. That includes parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

West Virginia ‘Proud Boy’ Sentenced For Jan. 6 Attack On U.S. Capitol

Jeffrey Finley, 28, of Martinsburg, was sentenced to 75 days in prison and $500 in restitution, with 12 months of supervised release.

A West Virginia man has been sentenced to prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. 

Jeffrey Finley, 28, of Martinsburg, was sentenced to 75 days in prison and $500 in restitution, with 12 months of supervised release.

Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia issued the sentence for Finley, who was instructed to surrender voluntarily.

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who is handling the Jan. 6 cases, had asked for a 90-day sentence for Finley.

At the time of the Capitol attack, Finely was president of the West Virginia chapter of the Proud Boys, a far-right group.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, Finley was part of a group of Proud Boys who rushed the Capitol, stepping over barricades and past U.S. Capitol police.

He pleaded guilty in April 2022.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has prosecuted hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants, including others in West Virginia.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sworn Into Office

A new assistant U.S. attorney has been sworn into office in West Virginia.

Lara K. Omps-Botteicher was administered the oath of office Monday to become an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of West Virginia. Omps-Botteicher has been working in the office since late 2015 as a special assistant U.S. attorney.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II says she will work in the criminal division in the Martinsburg branch office.

Omps-Botteicher is a 2012 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law, where she ranked second in her class. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she served as an assistant attorney general in the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office in Martinsburg.

Casto Tapped as U.S. Attorney for Southern W.Va.

Acting U.S. Attorney Carol Casto will serve as U.S. Attorney in southern West Virginia, but her stint may be finished in four months or sooner.

A news release says Attorney General Loretta Lynch appointed Casto to U.S. Attorney starting Friday. She will remain in the post until a presidential appointment is made, or until 120 days after the appointment.

If 120 days pass without a presidential appointment, the U.S. District Court in southern West Virginia can appoint a replacement until the vacancy is filled.

Casto has served as acting U.S. Attorney since Jan 1. She accepted the job after former U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin resigned in December to run for a governor, a bid which he lost.

Prosecutor in Ex-Coal CEO Case Manchin's U.S. Attorney Pick

The prosecutor on former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s case is Sen. Joe Manchin’s pick for U.S. attorney.

A spokesman for Manchin told the Charleston Gazette-Mail that Manchin wants Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Ruby to replace former U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin.

Goodwin left the Southern District of West Virginia job for a gubernatorial bid.

The president nominates Goodwin’s replacement. The U.S. Senate confirms the nominee.

It’s unclear if the Republican-controlled Senate would consider any nomination before President Obama leaves office.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s spokeswoman said she would support Ruby’s nomination, pending appropriate vetting.

Ruby said he wouldn’t comment on any possible nomination at this point.

Ruby landed convictions of Blankenship and several other ex-Massey officials after a deadly blast killed 29 men at Upper Big Branch in 2010.

U.S. Attorney Brings in $3.5M from Civil, Criminal Actions

The U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of West Virginia says it has brought in nearly $3.5 million through civil and criminal actions in fiscal year 2015.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II says his office collected $1.5 million from criminal actions and $1.3 million from civil actions. It also brought in about $625,000 from civil and criminal asset forfeitures.

Ihlenfeld says his office collected another $4.1 million in civil cases that the state collaborated on with other U.S. attorney’s offices and the Department of Justice.

Ihlenfeld says a “critical aspect of enforcing the federal laws is to recover funds for victims of crimes and taxpayers.”

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