FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 14, 2011
WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL CHARGES CONNECTED TO ILLEGAL DRUG TRAFFICKING IN HUNTINGTON
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. –Shawna Danielle Lee, 25, of Huntington, pleaded guilty today in federal court before United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers to maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing crack cocaine, cocaine, oxycodone and oxymorphone. On August 17, 2011, members of the Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force (HVCDTF) executed a search warrant at a Huntington apartment rented by the defendant and an associate. The search was conducted following a traffic stop of Lee’s vehicle where officers found 2.5 grams of heroin in the defendant’s purse. The defendant’s associate had approximately $3500 in United States currency on his person at the time of the traffic stop. As a result of the search of the apartment, agents found approximately 126 grams of cocaine, 73 grams of crack, 170 40-milligram oxymorphone tablets, 19 30-milligram oxycodone tablets, and $9,177 in cash. Agents also found a stolen, loaded Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol with a round in the chamber beneath a couch seat cushion. In a Mirandized statement subsequent to her arrest, the defendant stated that she was aware that there was a gun at the apartment. Lee was aware that her associate stored controlled substances at the apartment and she permitted the individual to do so.
Lee faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine when she is sentenced on February 13, 2012.
This case was prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by various federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, remain committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers in communities across the Southern District.
The Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT) conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks is in charge of the prosecution.
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