Justin Thomas Mann, 28, of Wheeling Island, has been sentenced to 23 months in federal prison for dealing heroin in Ohio County, West Virginia. The conviction marks another blow to the underground drug trade feeding addiction in the region.
Mann admitted to selling heroin in February 2016, a period when opioid overdoses were spiking across the state. His guilty plea in September 2016 to one count of ‘Distribution of Heroin’ cut short a federal investigation led by hard-charging narcotics units.
The sale occurred in a neighborhood already strained by drug-related crime, where users and dealers operate in plain sight. Mann’s arrest was part of a broader crackdown by the Ohio Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative targeting high-impact traffickers.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Randolph J. Bernard and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Martin, with the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office, prosecuted the case. They pushed for accountability in a system often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of drug offenses.
Sentencing was handed down by Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr., who emphasized the role of low-level distributors in fueling the opioid crisis. The 23-month sentence reflects federal sentencing guidelines but also sends a message: even street-level dealers face real time.
U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, confirmed the outcome, underscoring federal and state agencies’ ongoing collaboration to dismantle drug networks. Mann’s case, while not high-profile, is emblematic of the daily grind in America’s longest-running war — the one against heroin on Main Street, West Virginia.
Related Federal Cases
- Richard Warf Admits to Meth, Heroin, Cocaine Distribution · West Virginia
- Wheeling Woman Indicted for Heroin and Cocaine Distribution · West Virginia
- Detroit Man Rasheed T. Latham Gets Prison in Heroin Conspiracy · West Virginia
- Rainell Peter Freeman Pleads Guilty to Heroin Trafficking · West Virginia
- Ohio Woman Amanda Elaine Wright Sentenced in Heroin Ring · West Virginia
Key Facts
- State: West Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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