CHARLESTON, WV – Samuel Pierre Joseph, 41, is headed to federal prison for over two decades after a jury found him guilty of flooding the streets of West Virginia with methamphetamine and fentanyl, all while illegally packing heat. The sentence, handed down Thursday, puts Joseph away for 22 years and six months, followed by five years of supervised release.
The bust started on December 27, 2021, when Charleston police spotted Joseph leaving a Knights Inn on MacCorkle Avenue. Witnesses say he ditched a black duffel bag and bolted, but officers quickly caught up. Inside the bag? A cocktail of criminal intent: 267 grams of meth, a Smith & Wesson .380, a Ruger 9mm, and the tools to distribute it all. Cops also found $1,355 in cash on his person. Joseph already knew he wasn’t supposed to have guns; a 2015 Louisiana conviction for marijuana possession barred him from owning firearms.
But that didn’t stop him. Less than three months later, on March 17, 2022, Joseph was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over in Parkersburg. Another search revealed 152 grams of meth and 12.9 grams of a fentanyl-heroin mix stashed on him. As officers took him in, Joseph tried to flush a business card for a Charleston storage unit – a desperate attempt to hide even more contraband. A subsequent raid on that storage unit turned up a king’s ransom: 896.8 grams of methamphetamine and 83.6 grams of fentanyl. This guy wasn’t just dealing; he was warehousing serious quantities.
U.S. Attorney Will Thompson didn’t mince words, highlighting Joseph’s lengthy rap sheet – 15 prior convictions – and his blatant disregard for the law. “This defendant has a criminal history…and was not deterred by his December 2021 arrest,” Thompson stated. “Today’s sentence reflects not only his persistent criminal conduct, but also the dedication and teamwork of the law enforcement officers who brought him to justice.”
The investigation was a multi-agency effort, involving the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), Parkersburg Police Department, FBI, DEA, ATF, and Charleston Police Department. Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston delivered the sentence, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeremy B. Wolfe and Troy D. Adams handling the prosecution. This wasn’t a single arrest; it was a coordinated takedown of a repeat offender determined to profit from misery.
Joseph was convicted of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine, possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and a quantity of fentanyl, and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine and 40 grams or more of a mixture containing fentanyl. The message is clear: trafficking drugs and illegally possessing firearms in West Virginia will land you in a federal prison cell – for a very long time.
Related Federal Cases
- Samuel Pierre Joseph, Methamphetamine Trafficking, West Virginia 2023 · Florida
- Travis Jackson Latta, Eutylone Trafficking, WV 2024 · Virginia
- Emily Wilson, Heroin Trafficking, Virginia 2024 · Ohio
- Kaleb Joseph Beals, Methamphetamine Trafficking, West Virginia 2024 · Virginia
- Jadakiss Johnson, Armed Carjacking, Memphis TN, 2024 · Virginia
Key Facts
- Agency: ATF
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Weapons|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Press Release
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