Justin Allen Bowen, Methamphetamine Trafficking, West Virginia 2022

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Kanawha County man has been sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in prison for his role in a major methamphetamine trafficking organization.

Justin Allen Bowen, 41, of Charleston, was sentenced on February 22, 2023 to 12 years and 7 months in prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from in or about August 2022 to in or about December 2022, Bowen conspired with others to distribute quantities of methamphetamine throughout Kanawha County. Bowen was responsible for selling or possessing with intent to sell nearly 50 pounds of methamphetamine during the course of the conspiracy.

Bowen would receive several pounds of methamphetamine at a time from his supplier, and distribute it to several of his customers. On December 5, 2022, law enforcement officers executed search warrants at locations where Bowen had delivered methamphetamine the night before and seized a total of approximately 15 pounds of methamphetamine found in three locations. Some of this methamphetamine was located in a safe within his bedroom, along with several firearms and more than $70,000 in cash.

Bowen is among 30 individuals indicted as a result of Operation Smoke and Mirrors, a major drug trafficking investigation that has yielded the largest methamphetamine seizure in West Virginia history. Law enforcement seized well over 200 pounds of methamphetamine as well as 28 pounds of cocaine, 20 pounds of fentanyl, 18 firearms and $747,000 in cash.

Nineteen of the defendants have pleaded guilty. Indictments against the other defendants are pending. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The investigation was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a program established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.

Chief United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy B. Wolfe prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:23-cr-31.

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