MARTINSBURG, West Virginia — Drug traffickers who sold fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine across West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle have been sentenced in federal court to a combined 37 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of West Virginia announced. U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey said the sentences, handed down in Martinsburg with U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presiding, covered separate cases that were part of a collaborative effort by multiple states and jurisdictions to arrest offenders and remove deadly drugs from local communities. Criminal Division Chief Lara Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the cases for the government.
The longest sentence went to a Keyser man prosecutors described as a source of supply for other traffickers. The other named sentences covered a Martinsburg couple who kept a drug-packaging house, a trafficker who crossed into Maryland to keep selling, and a Keyser methamphetamine seller who used social media to reach customers. One more man in the chain — the Baltimore supplier investigators traced the Martinsburg drugs back to — has been convicted and will not be sentenced until 2027.
Eversole: the Keyser supply source, 168 months
Kenneth Robert Eversole, 48, of Keyser, West Virginia, was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison for having more than 400 grams of fentanyl in Mineral County, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Eversole was a source of supply for other drug traffickers in the Keyser area, distributing large quantities of pressed fentanyl pills and methamphetamine. Investigators determined that he distributed hundreds of fentanyl pills, and officers executing a search warrant at the duplex where he lived seized nearly three pounds of fentanyl, almost two pounds of methamphetamine, 150 pounds of marijuana and a small amount of cocaine — along with five firearms, cash, body armour and drug paraphernalia.
The Martinsburg packaging house: 60 months each
Brenton Daniel Berens, 38, and Shannon Lynn Smith, 40, both of Martinsburg, were each sentenced to 60 months in prison for their roles in a drug trafficking operation selling fentanyl and cocaine in Berkeley County. The two maintained a residence to store and package the drugs, serving as a distribution hub for the operation. Officers who searched the home seized nearly one pound of fentanyl. Investigators traced the drugs back to a Baltimore, Maryland man, Rodney Harry Augustine; Augustine was convicted for his role in this case and will be sentenced in 2027, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Younger and Kile: a traffic stop and a social-media meth seller
Malachi Brian Maurice Younger, 23, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for trafficking fentanyl and cocaine in Berkeley County. Younger was selling fentanyl and cocaine in West Virginia and Maryland, crossing state lines to continue his drug operation; during a traffic stop, officers seized more than half a pound of cocaine, more than 50 grams of fentanyl and a quarter pound of marijuana from his vehicle. Shawn Douglas Kile, 29, of Keyser, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Kile was selling methamphetamine in Mineral County — sometimes using his social media to communicate with customers — and investigators determined he sold a little more than 93 grams of it.
"These sentences reflect the commitment of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners who work tirelessly to protect our communities. Thanks to their exceptional teamwork, these dangerous traffickers have been removed from our streets, and our community is safer as a result. But our work does not end here. My office will continue to aggressively pursue those who choose to traffic deadly drugs into West Virginia and will remain relentless in our efforts to eliminate drug networks wherever they operate," said U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey.
Who investigated: eight agencies across two states
The investigative agencies listed by the U.S. Attorney's Office span both sides of the state line the drugs crossed: the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Washington County, Maryland Narcotics Task Force; the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative; the Potomac Highlands Drug Task Force, also HIDTA-funded; the Maryland State Police; the Hagerstown, Maryland Police Department; and the Washington County, Maryland Sheriff's Department. The prosecution was handled by Criminal Division Chief Lara Omps-Botteicher, and Judge Groh presided over the sentencings.
Background: the Baltimore-to-Panhandle pipeline
The Eastern Panhandle — Berkeley, Jefferson and Mineral counties, within commuting distance of Washington and Baltimore — has repeatedly appeared in federal fentanyl cases as the receiving end of a supply line running out of Baltimore, and this set of cases follows that pattern: a Baltimore supplier, a Martinsburg packaging house, and street-level sellers in Keyser and Berkeley County. The U.S. Attorney's Office said the prosecutions directly advance its Four Corners of Public Safety initiative, whose drug plank is stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the Northern District of West Virginia, and that the cases are part of Operation Take Back America, the Justice Department's nationwide initiative against cartels, transnational criminal organisations and violent crime. The office also noted that fentanyl has been designated by President Donald Trump as a weapon of mass destruction because of its extreme lethality, even in trace amounts.
What happens next
For the sentenced defendants, the next step is serving their federal terms — 168, 120, 60, 60 and 41 months respectively for Eversole, Kile, Berens, Smith and Younger. The chain is not finished in court: Rodney Harry Augustine, the Baltimore man investigators traced the Martinsburg operation's drugs back to, has been convicted and is scheduled to be sentenced in 2027. The U.S. Attorney's Office says its work continues — in Harvey's words, the office will remain "relentless" in pursuing drug networks operating in West Virginia.