Operation Smoke & Mirrors Update: Charleston Man Sentenced to Prison for Methamphetamine Conspiracy

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Larry Wayne Legg, 56, of Charleston, was sentenced today to five years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Legg admitted to his role in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that operated in the Charleston area.

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.

Bowen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine on February 23, 2023. Kimberly Dawn Legg pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. They are among 30 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 has seized of well over 200 pounds of methamphetamine as well as 28 pounds of cocaine, 20 pounds of fentanyl, 18 firearms and $747,000 in cash.

More than a dozen of the defendants have pleaded guilty. Indictments against the other defendants are pending. 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 U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), the West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia National Guard Counter Drug program, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, the Charleston Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and the Raleigh County Sheriff's Office. MDENT is composed of the Charleston Police Department, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the Nitro Police Department, the St. Albans Police Department and the South Charleston Police Department.

Chief United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy B. Wolfe prosecuted the case.

The investigation was part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The program 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. 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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