Jennifer Benson, Heroin Distribution, West Virginia 2024

Grimy Times has learned that three individuals implicated in a federal heroin conspiracy were sentenced this week in Charleston, West Virginia. The defendants were part of a large-scale heroin distribution network operating in and around Parkersburg.

According to court documents, Jennifer Benson of Parkersburg was sentenced to 71 months in prison, while Bernard Spann of Parkersburg received a 60-month sentence. Dennis Carter of Detroit, was sentenced to 188 months imprisonment, all for their guilty pleas to conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin.

The investigation, which was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also involved the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Parkersburg Drug Task Force, the West Virginia State Police, the Wood County Sheriff’s Department, and the Police Departments of the cities of Parkersburg, Vienna, and Williamstown.

“This case brought down a significant heroin distribution network operating in and around Parkersburg,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “The citizens of Wood County are no doubt safer as a result of this prosecution. I applaud the thorough investigation conducted by our federal, state and local partners which resulted in 11 convictions and lengthy sentences in this case.”

The defendants, who previously admitted to their involvement with several other individuals in distributing heroin at various locations throughout the Parkersburg area, will spend several years behind bars for their crimes. Benson and Carter admitted to distributing between one and three kilograms of heroin, while Spann admitted to distributing between 100 and 400 grams of heroin.

Eleven codefendants, including Debra Martin, Joseph Reeder-Shaw, Ralph White, Jonathan Brown, Heather Wells, Kennedy Walker, Rachel Kuhn, and Sir Pritis Williams, will be sentenced in August for their involvement in the same conspiracy.

Assistant United States Attorney John Frail is in charge of the prosecutions, with plea hearings held before United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin. The case is part of an ongoing effort by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin.

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