Jose Vidal-Carcamo Gets 13 Months for Cocaine Distribution

Jose Vidal-Carcamo, 45, of Moorefield, West Virginia, is headed to federal prison for 13 months after being sentenced for distributing cocaine in Hardy County. The April 2014 drug deal placed him squarely in the crosshairs of federal prosecutors, ending in a guilty plea and a hard time behind bars.

Vidal-Carcamo admitted to distributing cocaine more than a decade ago, but the feds didn’t let the case go cold. In October 2015, he pled guilty to one count of “Aiding and Abetting Cocaine Distribution,” a charge that carried serious federal weight and ultimately sealed his fate.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II announced the sentence, underscoring the Department of Justice’s ongoing push to crack down on drug networks in rural Appalachia. Despite the years between offense and sentencing, officials made clear: time doesn’t erase federal liability.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen D. Warner, who built the government’s case on investigative work from the Potomac Highlands Drug and Violent Crime Task Force. That multi-agency unit has been instrumental in dismantling small-scale but persistent drug operations across the region.

U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided over the proceedings, handing down the 13-month sentence with no leniency. There was no plea bargain for early release or probation—just steel bars and a federal docket number.

Vidal-Carcamo’s conviction adds another name to West Virginia’s long list of drug-related prosecutions. In a state ravaged by addiction and trafficking, his case is a grim reminder: deal drugs, do time—eventually.