Tyrece Ramone Phillips, Fentanyl Crime, West Virginia 2024

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Charleston man has made headlines after pleading guilty to a serious fentanyl crime. Tyrece Ramone Phillips, 38, of Charleston, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on October 3, 2024, law enforcement officers intercepted a United States Postal Service package addressed to Phillips’ Charleston residence. Investigators obtained and executed a search warrant for the package, and found it contained approximately 572.2 grams of a substance containing fentanyl.

Investigators placed a sham substance in the seized package and conducted a controlled delivery of the package to Phillips’ residence on October 4, 2024. Phillips took the package inside the residence after the controlled delivery. Investigators executed a search warrant at Phillips’ residence and found Phillips with the sham substance from the package in his hands in an upstairs bathroom.

During the search, investigators also found a scale with residue and a large amount of cash in the residence. The evidence found in Phillips’ residence suggests he was involved in a large-scale fentanyl trafficking operation.

Tyrece Ramone Phillips is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24, 2025, and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $10 million fine.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney J. Parker Bazzle II is prosecuting the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia has released a statement regarding the case. The case number is 2:24-cr-177 and can be found on the PACER website by searching for the case number.

Related Federal Cases