HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Kanawha County woman was sentenced to prison for her role in a drug trafficking organization responsible for distributing large quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl in the Southern District of West Virginia.
Ladonna Rae Abner, 50, of Nitro, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for distribution of fentanyl. Abner was arrested on November 15, 2023 and a search of her residence yielded approximately 3.5 grams of suspected fentanyl.
Abner admitted to selling a quantity of fentanyl to a confidential informant on October 17, 2023, and an additional transaction on October 4, 2023 for approximately 1 gram of fentanyl for $120. She also admitted to receiving approximately 10 grams of fentanyl a week from DTO ringleader Derrell Cashawn Massey or others working at his direction from June 2022 until her arrest.
Abner is among 21 defendants who have pleaded guilty in the main case, which charges the defendants with distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl transported from Detroit, Michigan, in Huntington and other locations within the Southern District of West Virginia.
The investigation was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), the West Virginia State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph F. Adams and Stephanie Taylor prosecuted the case.
Ladonna Rae Abner is listed as a defendant in the 53-count indictment that charges the defendants with distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl transported from Detroit, Michigan. The indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Related Federal Cases
- Castellanos, Fentanyl Trafficking, West Virginia 2023 · California
- Nicholas J. Mathis, Methamphetamine Trafficking, West Virginia 2023 · Michigan
- Andrew Martin Hopkins, Methamphetamine Trafficking, West Virginia 2023 · Michigan
- Roy Bills, Marijuana Trafficking, West Virginia 2014 · California
- Thomas Lee Nelson, Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking, West Virginia 2016 · Michigan
Key Facts
- State: West Virginia
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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