HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Multiple defendants appeared today in federal court in Huntington on drug charges, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto.
Michael Muncy, 36, of Crum in Wayne County, was sentenced to five years and ten months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute oxycodone. Naomi Messer, 55, also of Crum and the mother of Muncy, was sentenced to five years of probation for aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute oxycodone. Following several controlled purchases of oxycodone from the residence of Muncy and Messer in Crum, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the house on February 21, 2012. Law enforcement seized oxycodone pills and over $1,800 in cash, including pre-recorded buy money from a prior controlled purchase of oxycodone.
In a separate drug prosecution, Jessica Dawn Prince, 30, of Huntington, pleaded guilty to distributing heroin. Prince admitted that on October 19, 2015, she sold heroin to a confidential informant working with law enforcement. The drug deal took place in Prince’s residence at 5400 Altizer Avenue in Huntington. Prince faces up to 20 years in federal prison when she is sentenced on September 12, 2016.
The West Virginia State Police and the Route 119 Drug Task Force conducted the investigation of Muncy and Messer. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald is in charge of the prosecutions of Muncy and Messer. The Cabell County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation of Prince. Assistant United States Attorney Gregory McVey is responsible for the prosecution of Prince. The hearings were held before Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.
These prosecutions were brought as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
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