Operation Smoke and Mirrors Update: Charleston Woman Sentenced to Prison for Role in Methamphetamine Trafficking Organization

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Kimberly Dawn Legg, 49, of Charleston, was sentenced today to four years and nine months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Legg admitted to a role in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that operated in the Charleston area.

According to court documents and statements made in court, for several months prior to December 5, 2022, Legg sold quantities of methamphetamine obtained from a supplier who usually delivered the methamphetamine directly to her Lotus Drive residence in Charleston. Kimberly Dawn Legg admitted to handling the money when selling the methamphetamine to customers while co-defendant Larry Wayne Legg typically weighed out the amounts. Kimberly Dawn Legg further admitted that the supplier usually provided the methamphetamine without requiring full payment, with the understanding that he would be paid from the individual sale proceeds.

On December 4, 2022, the supplier delivered approximately 1 pound of methamphetamine to Kimberly Dawn Legg’s residence. The next day, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the residence and found the methamphetamine. Kimberly Dawn Legg admitted that she and Larry Wayne Legg intended to sell the seized methamphetamine.

Larry Wayne Legg, 55, of Charleston, was sentenced to five years in prison on July 6, 2023, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Kimberly Dawn Legg and Larry Wayne Legg 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 seized well over 200 pounds of methamphetamine as well as 28 pounds of cocaine, 20 pounds of fentanyl, 18 firearms and $747,000 in cash.

Eighteen 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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