Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Six more people have been sentenced for their roles in a major drug trafficking organization responsible for the distribution of large quantities of illegal drugs in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties.
Gary Brown, Jr., age 39, of Baltimore, Maryland, was the leader of the operation. He was sentenced today to 327 months in prison and fined $1,000,000. The indictment, returned in January 2024 against Brown, Jr., and eighty-one others, charged that the defendants caused substantial amounts of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine to be distributed in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties.
Others sentenced this week include:
- Linda Abshire, age 33, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison.
- Christopher Sterling Cogle, age 42, of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, was sentenced to 96 months.
- Saul Percy Powell, Jr., age 56, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison.
- Nathaniel Frederick Downing, Jr., age 69, of Charles Town, West Virginia, was sentenced to 18 months.
- James Sanford, age 40, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, was sentenced to 60 months in prison.
Of the 82 defendants, 80 have been convicted. Including today’s six, 59 defendants have been sentenced. One defendant, Charles Delroy Singletary, age 44, of Baltimore, Maryland, remains a fugitive.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lara Omps-Botteicher and Kyle Kane prosecuted the cases on behalf of the government.
U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.
Investigative agencies include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Pittsburgh Field Division and Baltimore Field Division); the Drug Enforcement Administration; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations; the United States Postal Inspection Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the United States Marshals Service; the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the West Virginia State Police; the West Virginia Air National Guard; the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office; the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office; Ranson Police Department; Martinsburg Police Department; Charles Town Police Department; the Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office; Stafford County Sheriff’s Office (Virginia); Frederick County Sheriff’s Office (Maryland); Frederick County Sheriff’s Office (Virginia); Winchester Police Department; and the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office (Virginia).
This investigation is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).