Charleston Man Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine Conspiracy

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Larry Wayne Legg, 55, of Charleston, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Legg admitted to obtaining quantities of methamphetamine from co-defendant Justin Allen Bowen over several months prior to December 5, 2022. Legg further admitted to selling the methamphetamine with co-defendant Kimberly Dawn Legg out of their Lotus Drive residence in Charleston. Larry Wayne Legg would typically weigh the methamphetamine for individual sales and Kimberly Dawn Legg would handle the money. The two shared a cell phone to arrange obtaining additional quantities of methamphetamine from Bowen.

On December 5, 2022, law enforcement officers searched the Lotus Drive residence and found approximately 1 pound of methamphetamine. Larry Wayne Legg admitted to receiving the methamphetamine from Bowen and further admitted that he intended to sell the methamphetamine with Kimberly Dawn Legg.

Larry Wayne Legg is scheduled to be sentenced on June 27, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine.

Bowen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine on February 23, 2023. Bowen and Larry Wayne Legg were indicted along with Kimberly Dawn Legg, Jasper Wemh, Richard Allen Bowen, McKenzie Bowen, Nicholas Bradford Confere, and Stanley Aaron Burkes. The remaining defendants are scheduled for trial on April 25, 2023. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), the Charleston Police Department, the West Virginia State Police, and the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office.

Chief United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorneys Jeremy B. Wolfe and Nowles Heinrich are prosecuting the case.

The investigation was part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:23-cr-4.

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