Keary Drake, Methamphetamine Sales, WV 2016

Keary Drake, 48, of Charleston, West Virginia, stood before a federal judge and admitted to peddling poison on the city’s streets—methamphetamine—through multiple controlled sales in 2016. The plea, entered Thursday, marks another conviction in the federal crackdown on the region’s escalating drug trade. U.S. Attorney Carol Casto confirmed the guilty plea, underscoring the feds’ relentless pursuit of dealers fueling addiction and violence in the Southern District of West Virginia.

Drake admitted to selling methamphetamine to a confidential informant during a sting operation on April 28, 2016, orchestrated by the Sheriff’s Tactical Operations Patrol (STOP) team of the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office. That wasn’t the end. He sold the same informant more of the drug in two additional transactions during June and July of that year—cold, calculated deliveries that fed a growing epidemic. Each exchange was a direct assault on public safety, investigators say.

The operation closed in on July 13, 2016, when law enforcement raided Drake’s residence on Bakers Fork Road. Inside, they found more methamphetamine—physical proof of his criminal enterprise. Drake confessed on the scene, admitting he’d been trafficking the drug for at least six months and had moved approximately 84 grams. That’s nearly three ounces of pure, destructive chemistry—enough to spark dozens of overdoses, devastate families, and rattle neighborhoods.

Now facing up to 20 years in federal prison, Drake’s sentencing is scheduled for February 23, 2017, before U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston. There will be no walk-away. Federal time looms heavy, a consequence of choices that turned homes into labs and streets into marketplaces. Assistant United States Attorney Erik S. Goes is leading the prosecution, determined to secure every day of accountability the law allows.

The investigation was a joint hammer blow from the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration—agencies locked in an ongoing battle against West Virginia’s drug plague. This case is not isolated. It’s part of a broader federal initiative led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to dismantle illicit drug networks, eliminate open-air markets, and shut down the supply chain that feeds addiction from Charleston to the coalfields.

As the body count from overdoses climbs, prosecutors and law enforcement are drawing a line: dealers like Keary Drake won’t operate in shadows forever. The feds are watching. They’re building cases. And they’re putting traffickers on notice—your time is running out.