Huntington, West Virginia Man Sentenced to 240 Months for Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin

ASHLAND, Ky. — Eric Lavell Minter, 33, of Huntington, West Virginia, was sentenced Wednesday, to 240 months in federal prison by United States District Judge David L. Bunning, for conspiracy to distribute heroin. 

In August 2017, law enforcement members of the Huntington FBI Task Force, in conjunction with the Kentucky State Police and the Ashland Police Department, seized 876 grams of heroin, which was transported from Detroit to Huntington.  Minter, and a co-defendant, Leonard Wright, orchestrated the delivery of heroin, from June 2017 to August 2017.  The heroin was then distributed in the Tri-State area.  Minter has prior convictions for drug trafficking in West Virginia state and federal courts.

Under federal law, Minter must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence; and upon his release, he will be under the supervision of the United States Probation Office for 8 years.  Wright pleaded guilty and was previously sentenced to 156 months in prison and 4 years of supervised release.  

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Robert Allen Jones, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Pittsburgh Field Office; Richard Sanders, Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police; and Todd Kelly, Chief of the Ashland Police Department, jointly made the announcement.

The FBI, Kentucky State Police, and the Ashland Police Department conducted the investigation.  The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Cynthia T. Rieker.