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(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Fawn E. Thomas, Public Affairs Specialist

 

 

October 27, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Wheeling Resident Sentenced on Distribution of
“Crack” Cocaine within 1,000 Feet of Riverview Towers

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA - A 43 year old Wheeling, West Virginia, resident was sentenced on October 26, 2009, in United States District Court in Wheeling by Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr.

Acting United States Attorney Betsy C. Jividen announced that FRANKLIN MILLER was sentenced to 41 months imprisonment to be followed by 6 years of supervised release. MILLER entered a plea of guilty on July 30, 2009, to one count of an Indictment charging him with the distribution of “crack” cocaine within 1,000 feet of Riverview Towers on February 12, 2009.

The five-month investigation into the distribution of “crack” cocaine in North Wheeling and on Wheeling Island by out-of-state groups from the Cleveland and Detroit areas, who used local residents to assist in the distributions, began in January of 2009. Agents made three controlled buys from MILLER who, as part of his plea, admitted to distributing up to 1 1/4 ounces of “crack” cocaine. The investigation was successful in identifying multiple drug sources for MILLER, three of whom have previously pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

MILLER was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a federal institution.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John C. Parr. The case was investigated by the Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crime Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Task Force consists of officers from the Wheeling Police Department, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.