Federal court reports

Nov. 30—Nicholas County woman sentenced to 2 years

in prison for dealing meth

charleston, w.va. — Jolene Myers, 41, of Mount Nebo, was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for distribution of methamphetamine.

According to court records, Myers sold a quantity of methamphetamine on March 19, 2022, to a confidential informant outside of a Summersville-area business. Myers admitted to that transaction and further admitted to selling methamphetamine to the confidential informant on three other occasions in Nicholas County.

Law enforcement officers conducted a traffic stop on April 9, 2022, of a vehicle driven by Myers on Mount Lookout Road in Nicholas County. Myers admitted that officers found a quantity of methamphetamine in her pants and a SCCY Model CPX-1, 9mm pistol in her purse when they searched her and the vehicle.

----Tenn. man gets 5 years

of probation for failure

to pay child support

charleston, w.va. — Jancent M. Powell, 39, of Tullahoma, Tenn., was sentenced Thursday to five years of federal probation and ordered to pay $44,628.39 in restitution for failure to pay child support obligations.

According to court records, the Family Court of Wood County, West Virginia, ordered Powell on to pay $361 a month in child support for his twin daughters. Powell admitted that he made only six of the monthly payments, all in 2014.

----Kanawha County man sentenced to prison

for federal drug crime

charleston, w.va. — Shawn Michael Patton, 47, of Dunbar, was sentenced Thursday to 11 years and three months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for distribution of methamphetamine.

According to court records, Patton sold 2 ounces of methamphetamine on Jan. 13, 2022, to a confidential informant on the front porch of his Park Drive residence in Dunbar in exchange for $700.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Patton's residence on Feb. 9, 2022, and seized approximately 2 pounds of methamphetamine from a bedroom chair and $14,572.

On Sept. 20, 2022, officers executed another search warrant at Patton's residence and seized approximately 287 grams of methamphetamine, two firearms and $554.

On Oct. 5, 2022, Patton was arrested by officers and consented to a search of his residence. Officers seized approximately 25 grams of heroin, 379 grams of marijuana and $2,315.

----Former WVDEP official sentenced for theft

of federal grant funds

charleston, w.va. — Jerry D. Elkins, 54, of Danville, was sentenced Thursday to three years of federal probation, including 10 months on home detention, and ordered to pay $94,197.93 in restitution for theft from programs receiving federal funds.

Elkins admitted to fraudulently obtaining $94,197.93 of federal abandoned mine land (AML) remediation sub-grant funds while employed by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Elkins also set up a shell limited liability company to receive a portion of the sub-grant award funds and created fraudulent invoices in an attempt to conceal the nature of the payments.

According to court records, from on or about April 2017 until on or about Aug. 7, 2019, Elkins assisted Aleksey Krylov and one of Krylov's companies with their application for a DEP AML pilot program sub-grant. The DEP receives grant funding from the United States Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) for, among other purposes, accelerating the remediation of eligible sites for economic revitalization and community development purposes under the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) program.

Since 2016, West Virginia has received $181 million in AMLER block grant funds. Numerous private entities apply to receive AML sub-grants, and the process for selecting projects to receive sub-grant awards is competitive.

Elkins was initially a regional planner and later an inspector for the DEP during the time period, and had become acquainted with Krylov prior to joining the DEP. Krylov and his company proposed to construct and operate an aquaponics facility that would produce commercial quantities of vegetables and fruits at a project site near Madison. To assist Krylov and his company, Elkins collected water samples, obtained public support, boosted Krylov's project internally at DEP, provided his opinion and suggestions for improving the sub-grant application, and continuously monitored the application's status.

In August and September 2018, Elkins registered a limited liability company, Wanaque River Holdings LLC ("Wanaque"), in Delaware and opened a bank account for Wanaque at a bank in Charleston, W.Va., in order to receive and obscure payments from Krylov. Elkins admitted that Wanaque had no other legitimate business purpose besides receiving funds from Krylov and Krylov's companies. Elkins further admitted that he directed the creation of a third-party pay-bill account through Bill.com, a cloud-based payments platform, that was used to send invoices from Wanaque to companies under Krylov's control.

From about Oct. 19, 2018, through about Aug. 7, 2019, Wanaque received $94,197.93 in electronic fund transfers and checks from Krylov and his companies. The $94,197.34 originated from the aquaponics project's sub-grant reimbursements from the DEP and was ultimately diverted to Elkins, who took steps to hide, conceal and cover up his activity and the nature and scope of his dealings with Krylov. Those steps included failing to list his interest in Wanaque when he signed the federal OSMRE State Employee Statement of Employment and Financial Interest form on Feb. 20, 2019.

Krylov, 42, of South Orange, N.J., pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting theft from programs receiving federal funds on July 27 and awaits sentencing.

----Detroit man faces 20 years max for his role

in meth trafficking ring

charleston, w.va. — Perry Johnson Jr., 29, of Detroit, Mich., pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Johnson admitted to his role in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that operated in the Charleston area.

According to court records, Johnson conducted phone calls on or about Nov. 28, 2022, with co-conspirator Alexandria Jasmine Estep, during which he arranged to sell multiple pounds of methamphetamine to her. Johnson arranged for the methamphetamine to be delivered by third parties in a vehicle to Estep's Charleston residence the following day.

Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced on March 14 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a $1 million fine.

Estep, 22, of Charleston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on Nov. 15 and awaits sentencing. Johnson and Estep are among 32 individuals indicted as a result of Operation Smoke and Mirrors, a major drug trafficking investigation that has yielded the largest methamphetamine seizure in West Virginia history. Law enforcement seized well over 400 pounds of methamphetamine as well as 40 pounds of cocaine, 3 pounds of fentanyl, 19 firearms and $935,000 in cash.

Johnson, Estep and 22 other defendants have pleaded guilty.

----Kanawha County woman defrauds Red Cross and gets 3 years of probation

charleston, w.va. — Tonja Oakes, 58, of Cross Lanes, was sentenced Thursday to three years of federal probation, including eight months on home detention, and ordered to pay $21,943.80 in restitution for wire fraud.

Oakes admitted to defrauding the American Red Cross (ARC) while employed at its Cross Lanes office.

According to court records, the ARC hired Oakes in 2105 as a business operations specialist, and her duties included acting as the purchasing agent for the ARC Central Appalachian Region. On March 9, 2019, Oakes began working as the executive assistant to the chief executive officer of the ARC Central Appalachian Region. Among her duties in that position, Oakes reviewed monthly statements of credit cards issued by ARC to certain employees and approved the statements for payment. This position allowed Oakes to review and approve her own expenditures.

Oakes admitted to making multiple unauthorized purchases with ARC-provided credit cards from at least Feb. 17, 2017, through at least Oct. 5, 2020. Oakes further admitted that the unauthorized transactions included a $973.77 payment for servicing a 2011 Kia Sorento on June 8, 2020. Other unauthorized purchases by Oakes included buying items while on vacation in South Carolina, groceries, and personal items purchased on Amazon. Oakes admitted that she used her employment position to review and approve her credit card statements, even though she knew many of the payments were unauthorized.