CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – A Harrison County man was sentenced for selling fentanyl and methamphetamine while carrying firearms, U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey announced.Matthew Ryan Lester, 34, of Clarksburg, West Virginia, was sentenced to 180 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and more than 40 grams of fentanyl, and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime. Lester sold methamphetamine and fentanyl in Harrison County.
Separate searches of his home and vehicle uncovered 900 grams of methamphetamine, 240 grams of fentanyl, multiple firearms, and more than $8,000.“Drug dealers who bring fentanyl and methamphetamine into our communities will face serious consequences,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey. “Our office will continue to aggressively target those pushing these deadly substances while illegally possessing firearms.”Assistant U.S.
Attorney Stephen Warner prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Greater Harrison Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; and the Philippi Police Department investigated.Fentanyl has been designated by President Donald Trump as a weapon of mass destruction due to its extreme lethality which poses a grave threat to public safety, even in trace amounts. This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime, and repel the invasion of illegal immigration.Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S.
Kleeh presided.