×

Three arrested on drug charges

Pauley

ELKINS — Three area residents are behind bars after allegedly meeting to make a methamphetamine transaction.

Robert Lee Pauley Jr., 39, of Mount Storm; Larry Allen Lyons, 53; and Krista Adair Ridder, 27, of Mount Storm are each charged with one felony count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. All three are incarcerated at Tygart Valley Regional Jail — Pauley and Lyons on $100,000 cash-only bonds and Ridder on a $100,000 cash or property bond, all set by Randolph County Magistrate Ben Shepler.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Randolph County Magistrate Court, on Tuesday investigators with the Potomac Highlands and Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crime Task Forces conducted surveillance on Pauley.

Investigators had conducted a “long-term surveillance” into Pauley allegedly being a “large scale distributor” of methamphetamine and received information from a confidential source indicating Pauley would be meeting Lyons near Elkins to distribute methamphetamine, court documents state.

Officers observed Pauley and Lyons meet at the Walmart parking lot in Elkins. They approached and secured both men, at which time they also located Ridder and secured her, the complaint states.

Lyons

Bureau of Criminal Investigation Cpl. T.A. Hutcheson advised Pauley of his Miranda rights and he agreed to speak to him without an attorney present, police said. Pauley told Hutcheson he was in possession of approximately 10 ounces of methamphetamine and it was concealed within his vehicle.

West Virginia State Police Cpl. G.S. DeWeese’s K-9 conducted a “free air sniff” of the vehicle and gave a positive indication of the presence of narcotics, according to the complaint.

A search of the vehicle revealed “a quantity” of methamphetamine concealed within the motor compartment. A further search of the methamphetamine revealed it to be in six individually packaged bags. Pauley and Ridder were both passengers in the vehicle where the methamphetamine was found, the complaint states.

Officers searched Lyons and found $8,900 in his front shirt pocket, $610 in his left front jeans pocket and $1,150 in his wallet, and he had seven Buprenorphine Hydrochloride pills on his person, court documents state.

A search of Lyons’ vehicle revealed an additional $18,100, according to the complaint.

Ridder

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $3.92/week.

Subscribe Today