Cross Lanes resident sentenced in meth conspiracy
Oct. 3—Leo Antoine Smith, 38, of Cross Lanes, was sentenced Monday to 11 years and eight months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute a quantity of methamphetamine.
Smith is the final major defendant to be sentenced in connection with an investigation that dismantled a large-volume drug trafficking organization that operated primarily in the Charleston, Rand and St. Albans areas of Kanawha County from March 2019 to September 2021.
The drug network distributed more than 160 pounds of methamphetamine as well as quantities of fentanyl and other drugs. The investigation also thwarted a plan by four of the defendants to murder an individual on Charleston's West Side on July 4, 2021.
The investigation culminated in the seizure of more than 12.3 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 34 firearms, more than $86,000 in cash, and several vehicles including three motorcycles. All 17 individuals indicted have been convicted.
The investigation also prevented a fatal drug overdose in St. Albans and several violent incidents including the Fourth of July 2021 plot. In that incident, four of the defendants — Treydan Leon Burks, Brian Dangelo Terry, James Edward Bennett III, and Douglas Johnathan Wesley — armed themselves in Rand and drove to Charleston to commit a drive-by shooting murder. Alerted to the plot, police in marked cruisers converged on the area. The four men abandoned their vehicle in a Lee Street parking lot due to the increased police presence.
Federal agents executed a search warrant on the vehicle and recovered four loaded firearms: a Spike's Tactical, Model SL15, .223-caliber pistol; an FNH, Model FNS-9, 9mm pistol; a Taurus, Model G2C, 9mm pistol; and a Sig Sauer, Model SP2022, .40-caliber pistol.
A federal jury found Smith guilty after a two-day trial on May 26.
