HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington woman found with heroin after police responded to a shooting call at her residence in 2015 pleaded guilty today to a federal drug charge, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Amanda Mae Smith, 33, entered her guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute heroin.
On August 20, 2015, officers with the Huntington Police Department responded to a call of a shooting at Smith’s residence located on the 800 block of 26th Street in Huntington. When officers arrived, they located Smith and an individual who had been shot in the leg during what was reported as an attempted robbery. Officers subsequently obtained search warrants for Smith’s residence and vehicle. When officers searched the vehicle, they located approximately 70 grams of heroin. Smith provided a statement in which she admitted that she had received the heroin from a source for distribution. She further admitted that she and others had been using her residence to distribute heroin.
Smith faces up to 20 years in federal prison when she is sentenced on May 1, 2017.
The Huntington Police Department, the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department and the Huntington FBI Drug Task Force conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams is handling the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.
This case is 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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