Three More Sentenced in Eastern Panhandle Fentanyl Trafficking Case
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Federal authorities have announced three additional sentences in a large-scale drug trafficking operation that targeted fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine distribution in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties. The sentences bring the total number convicted in the case to 81 out of an original indictment of 82 defendants.
Bradley David Welsh, 53, of Boonsboro, Maryland, received a 57-month federal prison sentence. David Lewis Pennington, Jr., 21, of Huntington, West Virginia, was sentenced to 87 months, and Lynn Wood Campbell, 45, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, will serve 84 months in prison.
The original indictment, returned in January 2024, named Gary Brown, Jr. as a key figure in the drug trafficking organization.Brown, Jr. was previously sentenced in May 2024 to 327 months in federal prison. To date, 77 of the 82 defendants have been sentenced.
The examination was a collaborative effort involving numerous law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Pittsburgh and Baltimore Field Divisions), the Drug Enforcement Governance, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the United States Marshals Service, the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force (a HIDTA-funded initiative), the West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia Air National Guard, and local sheriff and police departments from Jefferson, Berkeley, Charles Town, Ranson, and Martinsburg. The Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office also contributed to the investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lara Omps-botteicher and Kyle Kane under the direction of U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh.
This operation is part of “Operation Take Back America,” a national Department of Justice initiative focused on combating illegal immigration, dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protecting communities from violent crime, utilizing resources from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
More facts about the case can be found in the original press release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/investigators-dismantle-fentanyl-drug-trafficking-network-eastern-panhandle
