Chasity Chadae Stone, Heroin Distribution, WV 2015

Chasity Chadae Stone, a 25-year-old from Brooklyn, Maryland, is headed to federal lockup after copping to heroin distribution in Berkeley County, West Virginia. The conviction ties back to a May 2015 incident where Stone was caught with the deadly opioid, ready to push it onto the streets.

Stone pleaded guilty in November 2017 to one count of “Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin,” a federal charge carrying steep penalties in the opioid-ravaged Appalachian corridor. Her admission laid bare a clear intent to profit from addiction in a region already buckling under overdose rates.

Today, she was handed a 10-month federal prison sentence by Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The sentence underscores federal prosecutors’ continued crackdown on out-of-state traffickers targeting vulnerable rural communities.

U.S. Attorney Bill Powell confirmed the sentencing, emphasizing that drug networks crossing state lines won’t be tolerated. “Distributors like Stone fuel the addiction crisis,” Powell stated. “We’re holding every link in this chain accountable.”

The Eastern Panhandle Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative targeting high-impact drug operations, led the investigation. Their work dismantled Stone’s small but dangerous operation before it could spread further.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara K. Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the case, weaving together evidence that left Stone no choice but to plead. With federal eyes locked on the heroin pipeline into West Virginia, hers is just one conviction in a broader wave of federal drug enforcement rolling through the region.