Associated Press Published

Thirteen Charged in W.Va. Cocaine Ring Bust

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More than a dozen people have been charged with participating in a cocaine trafficking ring in West Virginia.
 
Seven people from West Virginia, three from Florida and three from Maryland are charged in a 73-count indictment issued March 18 by a federal grand jury in Martinsburg.
 
U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II announced the indictment on Monday in Wheeling.
 
The charges include money laundering, conspiracy and distributing a controlled substance near a public college.
 
Ihlenfeld says the group brought cocaine and crack cocaine to Keyser from other parts of the country to sell.
 
If convicted, each defendant faces up to life in prison on the conspiracy charge.

The charges stem from an investigation by the Potomac Highlands Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.