Valley Grove Man Gets 72 Months For Prescription Pill Trafficking

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Marshall County Resident Sentenced
for Illegal Possession of a Handgun

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld, II, announced that JAMES W. FERGUSON, age 38, of Valley Grove, West Virginia, was sentenced to 72 months in prison and three years of supervised release for “Conspiracy to Distribute Oxycodone” in the Wheeling area from late 2011 to May 18, 2012. FERGUSON served as a redistributor of painkillers for the leader of a drug trafficking organization based in Wheeling. The investigation leading to the charges included extensive surveillance, controlled purchases of narcotics, executions of search warrants, and seizures of narcotics, automobiles, and United States Currency.

FERGUSON, who was sentenced by District Court Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr., was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a Federal institution. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Randolph J. Bernard and investigated by the Ohio Valley Drug & Violent Crime Task Force, consisting of officers from the Wheeling Police Department, the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department, West Virginia State Police-BCI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

A Marshall County man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the illegal possession of a firearm after an argument at a business in Glen Dale. JOHN CHARLES MYERS, age 50, of Glen Dale, West Virginia, was sentenced by Chief District Court Judge John Preston Bailey to 18 months in prison and two years of supervised release. MYERS was convicted after a two day jury trial of “Possession of a Firearm while under a Domestic Violence Protection Order.”

The offense occurred on April 7, 2012, when MYERS got into an argument with patrons at the Rainbow Inn in Glen Dale and then vowed to return with a gun. MYERS left the area and retrieved a loaded 9 millimeter Taurus pistol from his home and then returned to the bar.

Police arrived shortly thereafter and found the pistol and a loaded magazine to be in the possession of MYERS along with a small amount of marijuana. Further investigation revealed that MYERS was subject to a 100-year family violence protective order. MYERS, who is free on bond, will self-report to the designated Federal institution on January 23, 2014.

SCOTT P. CORKRAN, JR., age 25, of Triadelphia, West Virginia, was sentenced by Judge Bailey to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release for “Felon in Possession of a Firearm.” The court also ordered the forfeiture of two firearms and ammunition. CORKRAN was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a Federal institution.

The MYERS and CORKRAN cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Perri and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Glen Dale Police Department.

JAMES A. ACCONCIA, JR., age 48, of Newell, West Virginia, was sentenced by Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr. to 28 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and JAMES A. ACCONICA, III, age 26, of Weirton, West Virginia, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release for the “Distribution of Heroin.” Both were remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a Federal institution. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen L. Vogrin and was investigated by the the Hancock/Brooke/Weirton Drug & Violent Crime Task Force, consisting of officers from the Weirton Police Department, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.