ELKINS — A Randolph County woman entered a waiver of indictment agreement and pleaded guilty recently in Randolph County Circuit Court.

Nicole Marie Heavener, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to deliver a controlled substance, a felony.

Before the plea, Heavener waived her right to an indictment, meaning a Randolph County Grand Jury will not review the evidence in her case, immediately moving it forward to the Randolph County Circuit Court.

She was initially charged in December 2024 with one count of conspiracy to manufacture or deliver heroin, cocaine, phencyclidine, diethylamide, meth, etc., a felony.

Heavener entered an Alford plea, also known as a Kennedy plea, meaning she did not have to admit to the criminal act and could assert her innocence, but she still accepted the imposition of a sentence.

Heavener was represented in court by attorney Greg Tingler. Circuit Judge David Wilmoth presided over the hearing.

Before Wilmoth accepted the plea agreement, Assistant Randolph County Prosecutor Richard Shryock informed the court of the factual basis for the case.

Shryock said that, on Sept. 12, officers with the Elkins City Police Department conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle with three people inside, including Heavener. During the stop, officers found an aluminum container with a smoking device inside.

While searching the vehicle further, officers found a grey bag with $1,000 and numerous cellphones, Shyrock told the court. All three of the vehicle’s occupants denied that the bag belonged to them. No drugs were found in the vehicle; however, one of the vehicle’s occupants later told police that the group had gone to a storage unit that had money and drugs inside.

Shryock told the court that, when officers searched the storage unit, they discovered a black safe with 1.5 pounds of meth, and video footage from the storage unit company showed all three of the vehicle’s occupants entering and exiting that specific unit.

Heavener is set to be sentenced on Dec. 3.