Angel Diaz-Gibson, a 26-year-old from Reading, Pennsylvania, stood before a federal judge in Beckley, West Virginia, and admitted to flooding a rural Appalachian community with hundreds of doses of heroin. The guilty plea, entered on charges of distribution and using a communication device to facilitate a drug felony, marks a direct hit in the ongoing battle against the opioid scourge gripping the Southern District of West Virginia.
Diaz-Gibson admitted he sold 148 stamps of heroin — each representing a single, potentially deadly dose — to a confidential informant on August 22, 2015, in Fairlea, Greenbrier County. That single transaction was only a fraction of his criminal reach: he further confessed to distributing approximately 740 heroin stamps in the region, helping fuel an epidemic that has devastated families and overwhelmed local resources.
Crucially, the plea includes his use of a cell phone to set up the deal — a move that triggered the more severe federal charge. The Greenbrier Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, working under intense scrutiny and with military precision, recorded the calls and coordinated the sting that brought Diaz-Gibson into custody. Their investigation peeled back layers of a small-scale but high-impact trafficking operation.
“If you make the mistake of selling heroin in Southern West Virginia, I can assure you that we have an aggressive team that will use every tool to hold you accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart. “Selling heroin in my district will put you behind bars for a long time.” The message is clear: outsiders looking to profit from addiction will be met with full federal force.
Diaz-Gibson now faces up to 24 years in federal prison at sentencing, scheduled for June 6, 2018. U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the plea hearing, underscoring the gravity of the charges in a courtroom where opioid-related cases have become tragically routine. Assistant United States Attorney John File is prosecuting the case, building on evidence gathered through wiretaps, informant testimony, and forensic drug analysis.
This prosecution is part of the Greenbrier Valley Heroin and Pill Initiative, a multi-agency crackdown targeting the illegal flow of opioids. Spearheaded by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, the initiative unites federal, state, and local forces in a mission to dismantle drug networks, shut down open-air markets, and reclaim communities from the grip of addiction. Diaz-Gibson’s guilty plea is one conviction — but it represents a broader war still raging in the hollows and backroads of Appalachia.
Related Federal Cases
- Michaelo Merone Gets 50 Months for Heroin Distribution · Michigan
- Pennsylvania Teen Pleads Guilty to Heroin Distribution in WV · Maryland
- Pittsburgh Teen Nyzhon Bell Pleads Guilty to Heroin Distribution · West Virginia
- Heroin Traffickers Convicted · West Virginia
- PA Dealer Woods Gets 36 Months in WV Heroin Case · Arkansas
Key Facts
- State: West Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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