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

June 22, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Three Indicted by Federal Grand Jury

ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA — Two individuals were named in separate Indictments returned on June 21, 2011, by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Elkins, West Virginia.

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

CHARLES “CHUCK” CUTRIGHT, age 38, of Buckhannon, West Virginia, was named in a 19-count Indictment. The Indictment charges CUTRIGHT with four counts of distribution of methamphetamine; one count of distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl; one count of illegal use of a telephone to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl; and 13 counts of possession of pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine. The drug activity allegedly occurred in Upshur, Lewis, and Harrison counties beginning in December 2008 through March 2010. If convicted, CUTRIGHT faces a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000 on each of the distribution counts; a maximum penalty of four years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on the phone count; and a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on each of the possession counts. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen D. Warner. The case was investigated by the West Virginia State Police - Bureau of Criminal Investigations.

TAOWEI YU, age 26, of Flushing, New York, and SIMON LEE, age 36, of New York, New York, were named in a three-count Indictment. Count One of the Indictment alleges that YU and LEE conspired to use counterfeit credit cards from July 2009 to June 2011 in Wheeling. Counts Two and Three of the Indictment allege that YU and LEE used counterfeit credit cards with the intent to defraud in Wheeling. If convicted, YU and LEE face a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on the conspiracy count; and a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on each of the two remaining counts. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert H. McWilliams, Jr. The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the West Virginia State Police.

It should be noted that the charges contained in the Indictments are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.