HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Five individuals pleaded guilty this week to roles in a multi-state drug trafficking organization (DTO) operating in Huntington that distributed fentanyl, methamphetamine, oxycodone, heroin, cocaine and cocaine base, also known as “crack.”
The five are the last of 18 individuals indicted to enter guilty pleas in the case, the result of a long-term investigation in which law enforcement seized more than 47 pounds of fentanyl, 4.5 pounds of cocaine, 2 pounds of heroin, 14 firearms and $335,000.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Marvin Jerome Calvin, 40, of Huntington, pleaded guilty to the distribution of fentanyl after admitting that he sold approximately 1.8 grams of fentanyl to a confidential informant in Huntington on July 6, 2020. Calvin further admitted that he distributed crack cocaine to a confidential informant on June 25 and 26, 2020. When law enforcement executed a search warrant at Calvin’s residence in Huntington on August 6, 2020, the officers recovered approximately 1.6 grams of cocaine, which Calvin admitted that he intended to sell.
Reginald Jerome Hairston, 43, of Huntington, admitted he conspired with other individuals to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl between May and July 2021. Hairston acquired quantities of the controlled substances from co-defendant Christopher Leon Vest for purchase by other individuals. Hairston pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine. Vest pleaded guilty in January 2022 to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine.
Kimberly Ann Combs, 44, of Huntington, admitted that she bought 104 30-milligram oxycodone pills from co-defendant William Raeshaun Byrd at his Huntington residence on July 23, 2021. When Combs left Byrd’s residence, law enforcement officers stopped her vehicle and recovered the oxycodone pills. Combs further admitted she received oxycodone pills from Byrd on at least 10 other occasions in June and July 2021. Combs provided some of those pills to another individual. Combs pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute a quantity of oxycodone and faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced on July 18, 2022. Byrd previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced earlier this year to 15 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine.
Dillon Andrew Young, 28, of Sissonville, admitted that he spoke to co-defendant Scott Midkiff on April 9, 2021, using the cell phone of another individual. Midkiff asked Young to bring the phone to him because Midkiff believed that the owner of the phone had stolen a quantity of drugs and money from him. Young agreed to bring the phone to Midkiff in exchange for money and 10 grams of methamphetamine. When Young entered Midkiff’s Huntington residence, law enforcement seized the phone and arrested Midkiff. Young pleaded guilty to use of a communications facility in committing, causing, and facilitating a felony, controlled substance offense. Young faces up to four years in prison when he is sentenced on August 1, 2022. Midkiff pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Brayan Luces, 24, of Columbus, Ohio, admitted from May to July 2021, he regularly shipped a minimum of 1 kilogram of fentanyl and 1 kilogram of cocaine, to an individual in Huntington. The fentanyl and cocaine were transported by vehicle from Columbus to Huntington where they were provided to an individual on consignment. After the drugs were sold in the Huntington area, Luces would receive the drug proceeds, which were transported by vehicle to Columbus. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Luces’ residence in Columbus on July 22, 2021, and seized 13 kilograms of fentanyl, 2 kilograms of methamphetamine, approximately $26,484 in cash, two firearms, and various magazines and ammunition. Luces pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, 400 grams or more of fentanyl, and five kilograms or more of cocaine. Luces faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison when he is sentenced on July 18, 2022.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearings.
“This successful prosecution targeted and dismantled a significant supply chain of deadly and illegal drugs,” United States Attorney Will Thompson said. “As we know all too well, these drugs ruin untold lives across our communities. I therefore commend the FBI and our federal, state, and local investigative partners along with Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph F. Adams and Courtney L. Cremeans who handled these prosecutions.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Southern West Virginia TOC-West Task Force – composed of the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department, the Hurricane Police Department, and the Marshall University Police Department – investigated the case. The West Virginia State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Violent Crime and Drug Task Force West provided support. The Ohio Highway Patrol, the Kentucky State Police, and the FBI and DEA in Columbus assisted in the investigation.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
