Columbus Heroin Dealer Butts Gets 5 Years

Christopher E. Butts, 42, of Columbus, is headed to federal prison for five years after admitting to selling heroin in the heart of Charleston, West Virginia. The hard-fought conviction marks another strike in the federal crackdown on opioid dealers flooding communities with deadly drugs, prosecutors say.

Butts pleaded guilty to distribution of heroin, copping to a pair of drug sales in late May 2016. On May 24, he sold heroin to a confidential informant at the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Randolph Street—a known hotspot for open-air drug activity. He repeated the crime the next day, sealing his fate with repeat transactions caught on law enforcement record.

The hammer came down on May 26, 2016, when the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team executed a search warrant at the residence where Butts was staying. Inside, officers found over six grams of heroin in his pocket, a loaded firearm near his feet, and a stash of cash. Behind the couch, they uncovered approximately 75 grams of heroin—each gram laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 25 to 50 times more powerful than heroin.

All seized narcotics field-tested positive for fentanyl, underscoring the lethal nature of the product Butts pushed. That chemical edge has turned street drugs into Russian roulette, law enforcement officials warn, as overdose rates continue to spike across Appalachia and beyond.

The investigation was led by the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team, a multi-agency task force built to dismantle drug networks operating in West Virginia’s hardest-hit areas. Assistant United States Attorney Monica D. Coleman prosecuted the case, framing Butts’ actions as part of a broader epidemic fueled by greed and addiction.

U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin handed down the five-year sentence, aligning with federal efforts to dismantle the pipeline of heroin and prescription opioids into the Southern District of West Virginia. This case, authorities stress, is not an outlier—it’s a target in a wider war against drug traffickers poisoning small towns and urban corners alike.