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ELKINS -- A Randolph County woman arrested on drug charges after the Mountain Region Drug and Violent Crime Task Force executed an arrest warrant last year was sentenced to up to 15 years on two felony charges in Randolph County Circuit Court Thursday.
Kristin Michelle Wilburn, 34, appeared before Circuit Judge Jayme Wilfong with her attorney, Alex Harclerode.
Wilfong sentenced Wilburn to not less than one and no more than 15 years in prison for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance; and to not less than one and no more than five years in prison for conspiracy, both felonies.
The sentences will run concurrently and Wilburn will receive credit for time already served. Wilburn is being held at Tygart Valley Regional Jail.
On May 29, Wilburn pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, a felony, and one count of conspiracy. Wilburn was initially indicted on two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, one count of conspiracy and one count of knowingly keeping or maintaining a dwelling, building, or other structure or place for the purpose of using or selling controlled substances, a misdemeanor.
Before sentencing, Harclerode asked Wilfong to consider sentencing Wilburn to probation, or at least have her two sentences run concurrent to one another, as Wilburn was taking full responsibility and had extreme remorse for her actions.
"Ms. Wilburn is not some out-of-towner who brought drugs into this area," Harclerode told the court. "Ms. Wilburn is a resident who had a drug problem. Who was selling drugs to support her habit, and she's taken responsibility for that... (Wilburn) basically says, 'Yes, I was doing this and I'm ashamed... I just want to get out of prison. I want to be a good mother to my son again. I want to go back to work.'"
Wilburn tearfully addressed the court, explaining that all she wants to do is "be a good mother."
"I want to see (her son) again, go back to work and change the outcome of my future in a positive way by staying clean and sober, and hopefully staying out of prison," Wilburn said. "If given the chance, I will show not only the court, but our community that I am not a bad person, just someone that got lost."
Before issuing a sentence, Wilfong admitted that she was "struggling a bit" with the sentence to give Wilburn for several reasons, including the severity of the crimes committed and of the drugs being delivered in the community.
"Heroin is a very serious drug, and as a result of your actions, it was trafficked in Randolph County," Wilfong said. "…But then I also have to consider that during that eight months (incarcerated), you look very healthy. I believe you when you say you're not using drugs, that you're abstaining from drugs at this point."
After sentencing Wilburn, Wilfong said that if a Rule 35 motion was filed for her to reconsider Wilburn's sentence, she would do so.
During the May plea hearing, Assistant Randolph County Prosecutor Christina Harper informed the court that, according to the criminal complaint, on July 29, 2024, the Mountain Region Drug and Violent Crime Task Force executed an arrest warrant at the home of Timothy Lee Summerfield.
At the residence, officers allegedly found drug paraphernalia "in plain view" alongside suspected controlled substances, baggies, digital scales, suspected cutting agents and U.S. currency. Summerfield is currently being held in Tygart Valley Regional Jail.
In a Mirandized interview, Wilburn allegedly told officers that she had been living at the residence of Summerfield for several months, and that she had been selling heroin for about a month, Harper told the court.
Wilburn also reportedly told police that she sold drugs with Summerfield "to support her habit" and she used her vehicle to go to Morgantown to pick up drugs, having "most recently picked up 25 grams and paid $70 per gram."
On July 5, Wilfong sentenced Summerfield to one to 15 years in prison, suspended in favor of five years of supervised probation, and a $5,000 fine for one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance-methamphetamine, a felony.