1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Fawn E. Thomas, Public Affairs Specialist

August 16, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Five Individuals Sentenced on Drug Charges

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA - Five individuals were sentenced in United States District Court in Wheeling by Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr. concerning convictions relating to heroin trafficking in the Follansbee, West Virginia, area.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that:

JAMES LESTER a/k/a “G”, age 23, of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on August 1, 2011, to 24 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. LESTER entered a plea of guilty on May 23, 2011, to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin from January 1, 2011, to March 22, 2011, in Follansbee, West Virginia. As part of his plea, LESTER agreed to the forfeiture of $2,443 in United States currency seized from a search on March 22, 2011. LESTER was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a Federal institution.

JOSEPH BRANDON SATATHITE, age 26, of Follansbee, West Virginia, was sentenced on August 10, 2011, to 24 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. SATATHITE entered a plea of guilty on May 23, 2011, to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin from January 1, 2011, to March 22, 2011, in Follansbee, West Virginia. SATATHITE was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a Federal institution.

DAVID MCGOWAN, age 46, of Follansbee, was sentenced on July 18, 2011, to one day imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. MCGOWAN entered a plea of guilty on May 17, 2011, to one count of distribution of heroin within 1,000 feet of Follansbee Middle School on March 18, 2011. As part of his plea, MCGOWAN agreed to the forfeiture of a 2005 Chevy Impala. MCGOWAN was released on supervised release on July 22, 2011.

MARK ANTHONY FRITZ, age 26, of Wellsburg, West Virginia, was sentenced on July 22, 2011, to three years probation. FRITZ entered a plea of guilty on May 23, 2011, to one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin on March 18, 2011, in Follansbee.

TANESHIA CEARA CLARK, age 20, of McKees Rocks, was sentenced on July 29, 2011, to three years probation. CLARK entered a plea of guilty on May 23, 2011, to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin from January 1, 2011, to March 22, 2011, in Follansbee, West Virginia. As part of his plea, CLARK agreed to the forfeiture of $2,443 in United States currency seized from a search on March 22, 2011.

The investigation, conducted by the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug Task Force, the West Virginia State Police-Bureau of Criminal Investigations, the Follansbee Police Department and the Pennsylvania State Police established that SATATHITE, MCGOWAN and FRITZ were obtaining heroin from various sources including CAMPBELL and CLARK in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. Once the heroin was brought back from the Pittsburgh area it was distributed within Hancock County and Brooke County. During the period of the conspiracy over ninety (90) bricks of heroin were transported from Pittsburgh to the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard.