Sanford Fayton Venable, Distribution of Heroin and Fentanyl, West Virginia 2021

A Martinsburg man has been sentenced for his role in a multi-state drug trafficking ring, according to officials. Sanford Fayton Venable, 51, was sentenced to 60 months of incarceration for his involvement in a drug conspiracy.

Venable pleaded guilty to one count of ‘Distribution of Forty Grams or More of a Heroin and Fentanyl Mixture’ in July 2021. The crime occurred in November 2019 in Berkeley County, where Venable sold more than 40 grams of a heroin and fentanyl mixture.

In a separate case, Venable pleaded guilty to one count of ‘Distribution of 28 grams or More of Cocaine Base’ in August 2019 in Berkeley County. He admitted to selling more than 28 grams of cocaine base, also known as ‘crack.’

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Lydia Lehman prosecuted the cases on behalf of the government. The FBI; Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; and the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.

The case is the result of investigations supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) under the Attorney General-led Synthetic Opioid Surge (SOS)/Special Operations Division (SOD) Project Clean Sweep.

U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided over the case.

A related press release can be found at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/25-charged-six-state-drug-conspiracy-involving-heroin-fentanyl-cocaine.

The defendant’s exact criminal charges were ‘Distribution of Forty Grams or More of a Heroin and Fentanyl Mixture’ and ‘Distribution of 28 grams or More of Cocaine Base.’

The crime occurred in Berkeley County, West Virginia, with the exact dates being November 2019 and August 2019.

The sentence was 60 months of incarceration.

Full name of the defendant: Sanford Fayton Venable.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Drug Trafficking

Fredrick Morgan, II, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Fentanyl Conspiracy, Indiana 2020

Nov 9, 2021

Drug Trafficking

Nathan Bellew, Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance, South Dakota 2021

Nov 3, 2021

Drug Trafficking

Jeffry Robtoy, Heroin and Cocaine Base Sales, Vermont 2024

May 3, 2019

Drug Trafficking

Keith Alan Rose, Methamphetamine Distribution Conspiracy, Montana 2023

May 17, 2019