Boone County Heroin Dealer Christopher Priestley Sentenced

Christopher Priestley, 38, of Bloomingrose, Boone County, is headed to federal prison after selling heroin to a government informant on four separate occasions. The low-level dealer was sentenced today to two and a half years behind bars for distribution of the deadly opioid, marking another conviction in the federal crackdown on Appalachian drug networks.

Priestley pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of distribution of heroin, admitting he played a role in a regional drug ring fed by suppliers in Detroit. Between July and December 2015, he conducted multiple hand-to-hand sales to an informant working under the direction of the U.S. 119 Drug Task Force, a multi-agency unit targeting the flow of heroin through central West Virginia.

The investigation peeled back layers of a shadow economy thriving in the hollows of Boone County. Priestley wasn’t a kingpin, but a cog—moving product from higher-ups tied to out-of-state sources. Federal prosecutors say the supply chain originated in Detroit, with local accomplices like Priestley ensuring the poison reached users in Seth and surrounding areas.

Others caught in the dragnet have already pleaded guilty and await sentencing. They include Daymeon Johnson, of Detroit, and Boone County residents Joyce Ann Zornes, Robert Buzzard, and Gregory Runion. Authorities say the coordinated takedown disrupted a persistent distribution hub operating under the radar for months.

The case was investigated by the U.S. 119 Drug Task Force, a coalition formed to combat the region’s spiraling addiction crisis. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks prosecuted, and U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin handed down the sentence—sending Priestley to federal prison for 30 months.

This prosecution is part of a broader offensive led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, targeting both street-level dealers and supply networks flooding communities with heroin and illicit pills. With overdose deaths climbing, federal and local agencies are doubling down on operations like this one—aimed at erasing open-air markets and dismantling the pipelines feeding addiction in the heart of coal country.

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