HUNTINGTON, WV—A Detroit man who participated in a conspiracy that funneled multiple kilos of heroin into the Huntington area between 2012 and 2014 was sentenced yesterday to more than eight years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Booth Goodwin. Kenneth D. Bowden, 29, previously pleaded guilty in February 2015 to possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin before Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.

Bowden admitted that between 2013 and April 2014, he conspired with other individuals to distribute heroin in the Huntington, West Virginia area. During the conspiracy, shipments of heroin were frequently made from Michigan to Huntington. Bowden and his associates used multiple residences in Huntington as locations from which they prepared, stored and distributed heroin.

On April 8, 2014, officers executed a search warrant at an apartment in the 900 block of 6th Street in Huntington. Bowden was staying in the apartment at the time of the search warrant. When they entered the apartment, officers observed Bowden and a second individual exiting through the rear bedroom. During the search, officers found a bag containing 113.7 grams of heroin. The Huntington Police Department Forensic Investigations Unit located a usable print on the bag, and connected the drugs to Bowden through his right thumb print.

The Huntington FBI Drug Task Force conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams handled the prosecution.

This case was prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.