WV Man Gets 4.5 Years in Meth Ring

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Brian Ashby, 38, of Kanawha County, is headed to federal prison for more than four and a half years after admitting his central role in a cross-country methamphetamine pipeline. Ashby was sentenced today and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of the highly addictive drug, according to United States Attorney Carol Casto.

The investigation revealed Ashby wasn’t a small-time player. In December 2015, he received roughly five pounds of crystal methamphetamine sourced directly from California. He then flooded the Charleston area with the drug. Law enforcement caught up in January 2016, executing a search warrant on Ashby’s property and finding over 15 grams of the substance. But Ashby didn’t stop there. He upped the ante, traveling to Louisville in February 2016 to acquire a staggering 10 pounds of crystal meth, paying an estimated $40,000 for the shipment. He then attempted to secure another 10 pounds in March, but authorities intervened, seizing $70,000 in cash he intended to use for the deal.

Ashby’s conviction is just one piece of a larger, multi-agency takedown. The investigation has already led to significant sentences for several co-conspirators. Velarian Sylvester Carter, of Beckley, received a 20-year federal prison sentence for conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. Two Mexican nationals, Daniel Ortiz-Rivera and Miguel Tafolla-Montoya, were sentenced to 12 years and seven months, and 10 years and 11 months respectively, on the same charge. Kelly Newcomb, of Nevada, and Danielle Dessaray Estrada, of Los Angeles, both received a year and a day in prison for aiding the conspiracy through interstate travel. Marco Antonio Bojorquez-Rojas, also a Mexican national residing in California, got a year and a half for his role in the interstate travel component.

The net is still tightening. Three more defendants – Rafael Garcia Serrato and Cesar Garcia, both of Los Angeles, and Mexican national Miguel Alejandro Robles-Ibarra – have already pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and await sentencing. The scope of this operation points to a well-organized criminal enterprise attempting to saturate West Virginia with dangerous narcotics.

The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Charleston Police Department, and the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team all contributed to the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Rada Herrald is leading the prosecutions. United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. handed down Ashby’s sentence and is overseeing the remaining cases.

This prosecution is part of an ongoing, aggressive push by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to dismantle drug trafficking networks. The office, alongside its federal, state, and local partners, is laser-focused on cutting off the supply of illegal drugs and stemming the tide of addiction across the region. Expect more arrests and convictions as this operation continues to unfold.