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ELKINS – The case against a Randolph County man accused of allegedly possessing methamphetamine, fentanyl and “a large sum of currency” will be brought before a grand jury.
Keith Allen Poteete, 61, of Elkins, is charged with prohibited acts, a felony. He is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $30,000 cash-only bond, set by Randolph County Magistrate Mike Dyer.
On Oct. 5, Poteete appeared in Randolph County Magistrate Court with attorney Gregory Tingler. According to Magistrate Court records, Poteete waived his right to a preliminary hearing, moving his case forward to be considered by a Randolph County grand jury. Dyer accepted the waiver.
According to the criminal complaint, prepared by Corporal D.T. Sayre of the Elkins Police Department, on Monday, he and several other EPD officers and several West Virginia State Police troopers served a search warrant at a home on Davis Street “in reference to the sale and distribution of illicit substances.”
Sayre writes that he knocked on the front door of the residence and said “Police Department, search warrant,” but no one responded. Officers then “forced entry” into the home, finding several individuals, including Poteete, inside.
Poteete was standing in front of a recliner as officers entered the living area, according to the complaint. The individuals were detained until the investigation was completed, and officers found, by the recliner, a baggie “containing large crystalline chunks consistent with methamphetamine” and digital scales. Alleged fentanyl was also found by the recliner.
Sayre wrote that “previous information obtained by a cooperating individual(s)” stated that Poteete would be “within arm's reach of the substance he would be selling.”
During the search, officers also found several digital scales “with a white, powdery substance consistent with fentanyl” as well as “a crystalline substance consistent with methamphetamine,” the complaint states.
Sayre began to advise Poteete of his Miranda rights; however, Poteete interrupted him and said “he knew them and he accepted responsibility of everything officers located,” according to the complaint.
Poteete was also allegedly “in possession of a large sum of currency, mainly consisting of $20 bills.” Sayre wrote that, through his training, experience and “previous interactions with the multiple individuals involved in the sale, distribution and purchasing of illicit substances,” he knew that “$20 will purchase a 'tenth' or a 'stamp' of fentanyl.”
Poteete also allegedly told Sayre he had fentanyl in his shirt pocket, saying that the bag was “his personal use,” the complaint states.