CLARKSBURG, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A Detroit man has been sentenced to life in federal prison for leading a multi-state drug trafficking organization that distributed fentanyl and other controlled substances across five states.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 31-year-old LaShawn Monroe, a Detroit native, operated a drug trafficking organization that distributed fentanyl and other controlled substances in West Virginia, Michigan, California, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Federal prosecutors said Monroe recruited couriers to transport drugs from California to West Virginia and Michigan while overseeing a network of at least eight drug redistributors who sold drugs in Monongalia and Marion counties. Authorities estimated the drugs had a street value of approximately $812,000.
“Monroe put money above lives, selling enough fentanyl to kill approximately 4.8 million people—two and a half times the population of West Virginia,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey. “His sentence should serve as a warning to anyone who thinks they can profit by endangering West Virginians.”
“Drug trafficking groups succeed when people believe it’s too far away, too large, or too sophisticated to fight back. This sentencing proves that is not the case,” said FBI Pittsburgh Assistant Special Agent in Charge Amie Loos. “Every criminal organization leaves a trail. The FBI and our partners stand together to find it, follow it, and cut it out of our community to save lives.”
“Drug traffickers like LaShawn Monroe prove time and again that they have no regard for human life; driven by greed, they sow misery in our communities, destroy lives and prey on society’s most vulnerable,” said Special Agent in Charge Jim Scott, head of DEA’s Louisville Field Division. “The sentence handed down today should give Mr. Monroe time to reflect on the harm he has caused to numerous families and hopefully turn his life around once he regains his freedom.”
Investigators said Monroe maintained two residences in West Virginia, including one in Morgantown and a stash house in Fairmont.
Search warrants executed at the two properties resulted in the seizure of three loaded firearms, 8.8 kilograms of methamphetamine, 7.54 kilograms of fentanyl, 1.1 kilograms of crack cocaine, 1.94 kilograms of cocaine and 412 grams of heroin. Officials said the fentanyl recovered from Monroe is one of the largest fentanyl seizures in West Virginia.
“The Morgantown Police Department is grateful to our regional and federal partners for their help suppressing the influx of lethal street drugs. We will continue to aggressively target and prosecute those individuals that try to bring this poison into our community,” said Deputy Chief Christopher J. Ruehmer.
The investigation was led by the Mon Metro Drug Task Force, a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area-funded initiative, with assistance from DEA offices in Detroit, Columbus and Cleveland.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zelda E. Wesley prosecuted the case.
Federal officials said fentanyl has been designated by President Donald Trump as a weapon of mass destruction because of its extreme lethality and that the case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative targeting cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided over the case.
