Federal court reports
Feb. 28—Montgomery man gets nearly 8 years for drug crime
charleston, w.va. — Jamie Edward Smith, 36, of Montgomery, was sentenced Tuesday to seven years and 10 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing methamphetamine and violating his supervised release.
According to court records, Smith sold approximately 18 grams of methamphetamine on Feb. 22, 2022, to a confidential informant on Third Avenue in Montgomery for $350.
Smith admitted to selling additional quantities of methamphetamine totaling approximately 51 grams to the confidential informant in Montgomery on two other occasions in February 2022. Smith further admitted to possessing a pistol and showing it to the confidential informant during one of the transactions.
Smith was previously convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia on Dec. 21, 2017. Tuesday's prison sentence includes 10 months for committing a crime while on supervised release.
----Charleston man pleads guilty to federal gun crime
charleston, w.va. — Scott Phalen, 63, of Charleston, pleaded guilty Tuesday to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court records, law enforcement officers responded to a report from an employee at a Kanawha City restaurant in Charleston on July 15, 2022, that an individual had placed a firearm in a trash can at the restaurant.
Officers found a SCCY, model CPX-1, 9mm semi-automatic pistol in the trash can. Phalen admitted to possessing the firearm and further admitted to placing the firearm in the trash can.
Phalen was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his prior felony conviction for first-degree sexual abuse in Kanawha County Circuit Court on Feb. 14, 2012.
Phalen is scheduled to be sentenced on June 22 and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
