MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Twelve people are facing multiple firearms and drug charges after a federal Grand Jury handed down a firearms and drug trafficking indictment on July 21, 2021, Acting United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard announced.
The twelve West Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. residents are facing charges involving a firearms and drug trafficking conspiracy in Berkeley County and elsewhere from April 2019 to December 2020. Fifteen firearms were seized as part of the investigation, and so far three have been recovered in Washington, D.C. Those charged are:
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The FBI; U.S. Marshals Service; Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives; the West Virginia Air National Guard; the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the West Virginia State Police; the Harpers Ferry Police Department, and the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C. investigated. The EPDTF consists of the West Virginia State Police, Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Ranson Police Department, the Charles Town Police Department, and the Martinsburg Police Department.
An indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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