Detroit Duo Sentenced for Huntington Meth Bust

Talon Aaron McIntosh, 28, of Detroit, Michigan, and Mario Alonzo Pettway III, 23, of Detroit, were sentenced for their roles in a Huntington methamphetamine trafficking organization.

McIntosh was sentenced to eight years and one month in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing a quantity of mixture and substance containing methamphetamine. Pettway received six years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for the same charge.

The two men admitted to their roles in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) responsible for distributing large quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl in the Huntington area. According to court documents, McIntosh sold a half-pound of methamphetamine for $1,000 to a confidential informant in Huntington on February 3, 2023, and sold approximately 439 grams of methamphetamine to the informant for $2,000 in Huntington on September 7, 2023.

Pettway sold approximately 2 ounces of methamphetamine to a confidential informant for $200 in Nitro on October 3, 2023, and admitted to selling a total of approximately 8 grams of fentanyl to the informant in St. Albans on three occasions between April 13, 2023, and May 2, 2023. He also sold approximately 29 grams of methamphetamine to the informant in St. Albans on June 26, 2023.

McIntosh and Pettway participated in the DTO from at least February 2023 through November 2023. On August 14, 2023, McIntosh arranged for Pettway to distribute approximately 55 grams of methamphetamine and 3.5 grams of fentanyl to a confidential informant in Huntington.

On November 15, 2023, law enforcement officers arrested McIntosh and Pettway and executed search warrants at two residences in Nitro. McIntosh and Pettway each admitted that the DTO conspirators used the residences to store and distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. Officers seized approximately 206 grams of methamphetamine, a Ruger LCP .380-caliber pistol, and ammunition at one of the residences, and seized 11 firearms and quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and ammunition at the other residence.

McIntosh and Pettway are among 27 individuals indicted in a 53-count indictment that charges the defendants with distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl transported from Detroit in Huntington and other locations within the Southern District of West Virginia. McIntosh and Pettway pleaded guilty in the main case, along with 20 other defendants. One other defendant pleaded guilty to a related offense in a separate case.

United States Attorney Will Thompson commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), the West Virginia State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentences. Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph F. Adams and Stephanie Taylor prosecuted the case.