Acting United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard was joined during the event by a host of law enforcement partners for a briefing regarding substantial drug seizures and prosecutions in the Northern District of West Virginia.

Bernard applauded the nine drug task forces in the district for seizing more than 27 kilograms of fentanyl, 22 kilos of methamphetamine, and 13 kilograms of cocaine over the past year.

Those task forces include: the Ohio Valley Drug Task Force, the Mon Metro Drug Task Force, the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force, the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug Task Force, the Greater Harrison Drug Task Force, the Potomac Highlands Drug Task Force, the Mountain Region Drug Task Force, the Marshall County Drug Task Force, and the Three Rivers Drug Task Force.

“Since taking office, President Trump has made it a priority to eliminate drug cartels, reduce violent crime and end illegal immigration,” Bernard said. “As part of Operation Take Back America, we, in law enforcement, have been tasked with surging all federal and local resources to combat those crimes.

Submitted photo A host of drugs and weapons are displayed on a table after one of the many drug seizures that was conducted by the nine drug task forces in the Northern District of West Virginia during the past year.

“It is a moral imperative that we strive to enhance the quality of life in all communities caught in the crossfire. The results we have seen from the task forces within the NDWV prove those efforts have been effective.”

The Operation Taking Back America nationwide initiative marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, officials said, seeking to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

During his briefing, which included representatives from the FBI, DEA, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, U.S. Marshall’s Service, Homeland Security Investigations, West Virginia State Police, Hardy County Sheriff’s Office, Hardy County Commission, Virginia State Police, and Grant County Sheriff’s Office, Bernard highlighted several recent cases that led to arrests.

He discussed a case involving Wesley Neal Carter of Moorefield. Carter was sentenced to 240 months in prison for conspiring with others to sell methamphetamine. He was supplying large quantities of methamphetamine to dealers in Hardy County, Bernard said. Investigators executed a search warrant on Carter’s home and adjacent property and seized nearly three pounds of crystal methamphetamine.

Those distributing drugs for Carter were also prosecuted and sentenced, including William Flinn of Moorefield (195 months in prison); Christian Adam Fisher of Petersburg (144 months in prison); Steven Ray Davy, Jr., (14 years in federal prison); and Keisha Rae Ogline of Moorefield (168 months in prison). Carter’s supplier, Carl Demetrio Valdez, pleaded guilty to his role and is awaiting sentencing, officials said.

Bernard also spoke about a case involving Daniela Marie Giancoli, from Baltimore, Maryland. Giancoli was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison for supplying fentanyl to dealers in West Virginia. Her co-defendant Michael Matthews, 36, also of Baltimore, was sentenced to 100 months in prison.

Giancoli and Matthews worked together out of their Baltimore apartment to sell drugs to multiple dealers in Grant County, Bernard said. Nearly 9,000 fentanyl pills, weighing more than two kilograms, were seized during the investigation.

Bernard said he wanted to congratulate and thank Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Warner, who prosecuted the cases on behalf of the government.

“Steve has dedicated virtually his entire career as an AUSA right here in the Potomac Highlands region and the Elkins federal courthouse,” Bernard said. “For close to 30 years now he’s dedicated his efforts to addressing the curse and the problems that we have seen with drug trafficking in these areas, and in particular, unfortunately his specialty probably has been methamphetamine, because this was sort of ground zero when the methamphetamine problem took off.”

Bernard added that the problems at the nation’s border not only affect the Southwest region of the United States.

“The problems that we are seeing at the border, the operations of the drug cartels have a deep reach in the country,” Bernard said. “Not just at the border, not just the southwest board and the west coast, we see those effects right here in Elkins, West Virginia, right here in the Potomac Highlands. We are committed to ending the impact the drug crisis has put on our towns, including increased addiction rates, overdoses and increased crime.”