CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Malden man pleaded guilty today to a federal heroin crime, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto. James Christian Young, 41, entered his guilty plea to distribution of heroin.
Young admitted that on October 19, 2015, he sold heroin to a confidential informant working with law enforcement. The drug deal took place at Young’s residence on Georges Creek Drive in Malden in Kanawha County. Young faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced on June 23, 2016.
The Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team and the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John J. Frail is handling 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 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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