CHARLESTON, WV—United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Jack Edwin McCoy, 30, of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and Douglas Edward Morris, 42, of Shady Spring, West Virginia, entered guilty pleas in federal court in Charleston to separate drug offenses. McCoy pleaded guilty to using a communication facility to facilitate a felony drug offense. He admitted that on February 20, 2014, he used a telephone in or near Lewisburg to have a conversation with a person to set up a drug transaction. Later that day, McCoy carried out the drug transaction at Ronceverte, distributing a suboxone strip to the person, who was cooperating with law enforcement authorities. McCoy was working a shift as a mail carrier with the United States Postal Service when he engaged in this conduct. He is no longer employed by the U.S. Postal Service. McCoy faces up to four years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The case was investigated by the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the Greenbrier Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.

Morris pleaded guilty to traveling in interstate commerce to facilitate a crime and also to possession of a controlled substance, admitting that on or about April 9 and April 10, 2013, he traveled from Shady Spring to Camden, New Jersey, where he obtained heroin and returned with it to his residence in Shady Spring. He admitted distributing some of the heroin and hiding some of it, intending to distribute it later. Morris also admitted that on May 15, 2013, he possessed a quantity of heroin in his residence with the intent to use it. Morris faces up to seven years in prison and a fine of between $2,500 and $500,000. The case was investigated by the West Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations, the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department Drug Unit, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

United States District Judge Irene Berger has scheduled sentencing hearings for both defendants for August 28, 2014.