Federal court reports

The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.
·2 min read

Feb. 22—Jail kitchen help pleads guilty,

faces 10 years for suboxone charge

huntington, w.va. — Bryanna Danielle Kern, 25, of Proctorville, Ohio, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to distribute suboxone.

According to court records, Kern was working as a kitchen employee at Western Regional Jail in Barboursville, W.Va., on Oct. 6, 2022, when she agreed to deliver a package containing suboxone to an inmate in exchange for $2,000.

After Kern drove to the jail that day, her vehicle was searched by investigators who found the package and the payment.

Kern is scheduled to be sentenced on May 22 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, two years of supervised release, and a $500,000 fine.

The inmate, Corey Michael Perkins, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute suboxone, methamphetamine, and fentanyl and was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison on Aug. 22, 2022.

----Michigan man pleads guilty to federal gun crime

huntington, w.va. — Monroe Avant, 32, of Inkster, Mich., pleaded guilty Tuesday to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court records, law enforcement officers responded to a shooting on Sept. 13, 2021, on the 1600 block of 11th Avenue in Huntington. Officers encountered a vehicle with two men passed out in the driver and front passenger seats. Officers saw that the passenger had a semi-automatic pistol in his waistband. Avant admitted that he was the passenger and possessed a Taurus Model 709 9mm handgun.

Avant was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his felony conviction for first-degree robbery in Cabell County Circuit Court on May 6, 2014.

Avant is scheduled to be sentenced on May 22 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.