FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sept. 17, 2012
WOMAN SENTENCED TO PRISON ON FEDERAL CHARGES CONNECTED TO ILLEGAL DRUG TRAFFICKING SCHEME IN HUNTINGTON
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin today announced that a Huntington woman was sentenced to one year and six months in federal prison for maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing crack cocaine, cocaine, oxycodone and oxymorphone. Shawna Danielle Lee, 26, of Huntington, previously pleaded guilty November 2011. On August 17, 2011, members of the Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at a Huntington apartment rented by the defendant and an associate. The search warrant 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 cash 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 cash. Agents also found a stolen, loaded Smith and Wesson 9-millimeter pistol with a round in the chamber beneath a couch seat cushion. Lee admitted that she was aware of the firearm inside of the apartment at the time. Lee further admitted that she was aware that an associate stored illegal narcotics at the apartment and she allowed the individual to do so.
This case is being 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 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is 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 Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Gregory McVey handled the prosecution. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.
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