Heavener

ELKINS — A Randolph County woman who pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to deliver a controlled substance in October received a three-year suspended sentence on Wednesday.

Nicole Marie Heavener, 34, appeared in Randolph County Circuit Court on Wednesday and was sentenced by Randolph County Circuit Court Judge David Wilmoth to no less than one, no more than three years in incarceration, suspended for three years of supervised probation.

As part of the suspended sentence, Heavener will have to complete a program through community corrections, have regular drug and alcohol tests and maintain full-time employment.

Before Heavener was sentenced, her attorney Gregory Tingler addressed the court, first asking Wilmoth to grant Heavener a deferred adjudication. According to West Virginia State Code, a deferred adjudication is when the court defers accepting a defendant’s guilty plea and defers on entering a final judgement, releasing the defendant “upon such terms and conditions as the court deems just and necessary.”

Tingler explained that, since Heavener had been out on bond, she has not had a single violation and has held full-time employment. He also noted that Heavener received her associates degree in the last two years.

“So this young lady has something to offer to society,” Tingler told the court. “She’s been afflicted by an illness that plagues so many of our people in West Virginia, and she’s taken very positive steps to rectify that situation and lead a life that’s clear of drugs.”

Tingler also noted that, if Wilmoth did not find a deferred adjudication to be appropriate, he would also ask that Heavener receive a suspended sentence.

Wilmoth denied the request to grant Heavener a deferred adjudication, saying he did not find it “appropriate” due to the facts of the case and Heavener’s criminal history.

When asked if Heavener had anything she would like to say before sentencing, Tingler said she did not.

After Wilmoth issued the sentence, he told Heavener that, at this point, the most important thing she needed to work on was herself.

In October, Heavener waived her right to an indictment, meaning a Randolph County Grand Jury would not review the evidence in her case, immediately moving it forward to the Randolph County Circuit Court. She also pleaded guilty by way of an Alford Plea to one count of attempting to deliver a controlled substance, a felony.

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

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

Before Wilmoth accepted the plea agreement in October, 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.