Charleston Man Rance McNeil Pleads Guilty to Meth Trafficking

Charleston, West Virginia, streets keep spitting out the same story: one man, one drug, and a trail of poison sold from a residential home. This time, it’s Rance McNeil, 46, admitting in federal court he flooded the city with methamphetamine in broad daylight and under cover of law enforcement eyes.

McNeil pleaded guilty today to distribution of five grams or more of methamphetamine, a crime caught in the act through four controlled buys orchestrated by a confidential informant. On March 1, March 11, April 8, and May 13, 2021, the informant walked into McNeil’s Charleston residence and walked out with meth — including two ounces on March 11 for $1,200. Each transaction was monitored, each dollar tracked, each gram destined for users in a state gutted by addiction.

The DEA didn’t wait for a body count. On May 18, 2021, agents stormed McNeil’s home with a search warrant and seized what prosecutors describe as large quantities of suspected methamphetamine and cocaine, along with stacks of U.S. currency — the dirty profits of a block-by-block drug operation.

McNeil now faces the full weight of federal law: a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, with a possible sentence stretching up to 40 years. Sentencing is scheduled for February 17, 2022, before Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston, who presided over today’s plea hearing.

U.S. Attorney William S. Thompson made the announcement, hailing the DEA’s relentless investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Negar M. Kordestani is prosecuting the case, building on evidence that didn’t rely on hearsay — but on video, cash, and controlled buys that leave little room for doubt.

Court documents tied to Case No. 2:21-cr-00203 are available through PACER. A copy of the DOJ’s press release sits posted on the U.S. Attorney’s Office website for the Southern District of West Virginia — another name added to the ledger of those caught in the opioid and meth scourge tearing through Appalachia.

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