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

July 11, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Moundsville Resident Enters
Guilty Plea to Drug Charge

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA - A 26 year old Moundsville, West Virginia, resident entered a plea of guilty on July 5, 2011, in United States District Court in Wheeling before Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that JACOB NEWLEN entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone from at least January 11, 2011, to March 26, 2011, in Moundsville.

As part of the OCDETF Operation Double Down investigation, NEWLEN was identified as distributing 30 mg. oxycodone pills from his Moundsville residence. On March 26, 2011, a federal search warrant was executed at NEWLEN’s residence and agents seized $1,213 in United States Currency, a Hi-Point 9mm rifle, a LG cell phone, a quantity of marijuana and a quantity of oxycodone pills.

NEWLEN, who is free on bond pending sentencing, faces a maximum exposure of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000.

The case was prosecuted by USA Ihlenfeld and Assistant United States Attorney John C. Parr. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the West Virginia State Police-Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crime Task Force, the Moundsville Police Department, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, the Martins Ferry Police Department, the Volusia Bureau of Investigations - Central Florida HIDTA, and the Drug Enforcement Administration in Orlando, Florida. The Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crime Task Force consists of the Wheeling Police Department, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.