Robert Leon Sullivan, Drug Conspiracy, West Virginia 2019

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA - A Steubenville man has been sentenced for his role in a large-scale drug distribution operation that spanned across Hancock County and other areas.

Robert Leon Sullivan, 56, of Steubenville, Ohio, was sentenced to 46 months incarceration for his involvement in a cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl distribution operation, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced. The sentence was handed down on an unspecified date in 2019.

Sullivan pled guilty to one count of 'Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine Hydrochloride, Cocaine Base, Heroin, and Fentanyl' in August 2019. He admitted to working with others to distribute these illicit substances in Hancock County and elsewhere from February 2018 to August 2019.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danae DeMasi-Lemon and Robert H. McWilliams, Jr. prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. A coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, the West Virginia State Police, and the Marshall County Drug & Violent Crimes task Force, assisted in the investigation.

The investigation was funded by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). This program provides critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations.

U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided over the case. The details of the investigation and prosecution were not specified. However, it is clear that the efforts of the law enforcement agencies involved have resulted in a significant blow to the local drug trade.

Robert Leon Sullivan's involvement in the conspiracy has now been brought to an end with his sentencing. The community can rest a little easier knowing that those responsible for the distribution of these deadly substances are being held accountable.

This article was written by a crime journalist for Grimy Times.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/steubenville-man-sentenced-drug-conspiracy