The Inter-Mountain photo by Taylor McKinnie Brittany Marie Sorvillo, 32, of Ohio appeared in Randolph County Magistrate Court on Friday morning.

ELKINS — The case against an Ohio woman accused of conspiring with an Ohio man to possess drugs with the intent to deliver them will be brought before a Randolph County grand jury after probable cause was found against her on Friday.

Brittany Marie Sorvillo, 32, is charged with one count of conspiracy. She is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional on a $10,000 cash-only bond.

Probable cause was found against Sorvillo during a preliminary hearing in Randolph County Magistrate Court on Friday morning.

Sorvillo was represented by attorney Paul Gwaltney, while the state was represented by Assistant Randolph County Prosecutor Leckta Poling. Randolph County Magistrate Tracy Harper presided over the hearing.

At the hearing’s start, Poling called Brianna Nicole Sorvillo, Brittany Sorvillo’s sister, to testify before the court. Brianna Sorvillo attended the hearing virtually through a video call.

According to the initial criminal complaint, filed by Lt. C.G. Boatwright with the Elkins City Police Department, on Feb. 11, when Brittany Sorvillo and Arnold Glenn Shiflett II, 38, were arrested, Brittany Marie Sorvillo allegedly identified herself as her sister, Brianna Sorvillo.

In her testimony Friday, Brianna Sorvillo identified Brittany Sorvillo as her sister and explained that, when a family member heard that Brittany Sorvillo had been arrested, they looked up the case using the last name Sorvillo. There, the family member saw that the arrest was under Brianna’s name, not Brittany’s.

Brianna Sorvillo told the court that this was not the first time this had happened, as Brittany Sorvillo had wrongfully used her name before in Ohio.

In cross-examination, Gwaltney asked Brianna Sorvillo if she knew whether or not her sister had a drug addiction. Brianna Sorvillo stated that Brittany Sorvillo has had a drug addiction “all her life.”

Poling then called Boatwright to testify before the court. Boatwright filed the initial criminal complaints against Brittany Sorvillo and Shiflett.

In his testimony, Boatwright explained that the Elkins City Police received a call on Feb. 11 regarding a “domestic situation” on Pleasant Avenue in Elkins. Upon arrival, Boatwright spoke with Shiflett while Patrolman T. J. Knotts took Brittany Sorvillo aside to talk. Officers were told that the pair had come to Elkins for a visit, with Shiflett advising officers that both of them had been brought to West Virginia by a third party.

Boatwright said it was clear that Sorvillo was upset from the dispute, but she had told Knotts that nothing had happened. After Shiflett was placed in custody, Knotts informed Boatwright that a small baggie with a powdery substance inside “consistent with fentanyl” had been found on Brittany Sorvillo’s person. She reportedly advised Knotts that Shiflett had asked her to hold onto the baggie for him.

Boatwright informed the court of the multitude of drugs, including methamphetamine and hydrocodone, that were found on Shiflett’s person and stated that he was in the process of receiving a search warrant for the two phones that had been taken from Shiflett. Boatwright explained that he would be looking for any evidence of financial transactions in exchange for drugs.

The court was also informed by Boatwright that Brittany Sorvillo had given officers multiple incorrect birthdates and he corroborated that she had wrongfully given police Brianna Sorvillo’s name instead of her own. Boatwright also told the court that Brittany Sorvillo had several warrants out for her arrest in Ohio.

In cross-examination, Gwaltney raised several questions regarding how officers knew that Brittney Sorvillo was conspiring with Shiflett to deliver drugs.

“So other than these two individuals walking together and Miss Sorvillo being found with a baggie of fentanyl, you don’t have any other information to confirm that (Sorvillo) was conspiring with Mr. Shiflett to distribute drugs, do you?” Gwaltney asked Boatwright.

“Nothing besides (Sorvillo’s) statement saying that she was asked to hold (the suspected fentanyl) for Mr. Shiflett,” Boatwright responded.

Gwaltney also called into question the practices of the Elkins City Police after Boatwright stated that any drug paraphernalia that could have been possibly found on Brittany Sorvillo would have been thrown away as “it’s not really considered evidence.”

Boatwright then explained that the Elkins City Police did not keep drug paraphernalia, such as syringes, in evidence, but would keep photographs of such items for evidence. He stated he had no paraphernalia, or photo of paraphernalia, taken from Brittany Sorvillo in evidence.

In closing arguments, Poling asked the court to find probable cause against Brittany Sorvillo as Boatwright’s testimony showed that Brittany Sorvillo admitted to holding onto drugs for Shiflett and that Shiflett was in possession of a multitude of drugs at the time of their arrest.

Gwaltney argued in his closing statement that the evidence showed probable cause of drug possession, but not conspiracy to distribute as, according to him, Brittany Sorvillo was not a drug dealer, but a drug user. He told the court that it was never said in Boatwright’s testimony that the amount of drugs found on Brittany Sorvillo were “an amount greater than for personal use.”

Gwaltney also reminded the court that, in Brianna Sorvillo’s testimony, she said Brittany Sorvillo is a long-time drug user.