CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Nitro man pleaded guilty today to a federal methamphetamine charge, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Shawn Keathley, 26, entered his guilty plea to distribution of methamphetamine.
Keathley admitted that on March 20, 2014, he sold methamphetamine to a confidential informant working with the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team. The drug deal took place in the parking lot of a restaurant in Cross Lanes. Keathley further admitted to having distributed methamphetamine for approximately five months in the Nitro area.
Keathley faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on November 30, 2016.
The Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department, and the West Virginia State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John J. Frail is responsible for the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
This case is being prosecuted 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 illegal drugs, including methamphetamine. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of illegal drugs in communities across the Southern District.
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