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Press Release

Huntington man sentenced to federal prison for role in heroin conspiracy

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of West Virginia

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington man involved with others in distributing heroin in 2016 was sentenced today to a year and three months in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Philip Reed Starkey, 48, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin.

From the summer of 2016 to September 2016, Starkey participated with Tonya Lynn Thompson and others in a conspiracy to distribute heroin in the Huntington area. During this time period, Starkey and Thompson received heroin on consignment. Starkey and Thompson would then distribute the heroin and return the proceeds from the distributions back to the heroin source.  

On September 5, 2016, a deputy with the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department seized $6,407 in cash from Starkey and Thompson during a traffic stop on U.S. Route 60 in Huntington after agents received information they would be delivering the money that day. Starkey and Thompson admitted that the money constituted proceeds from heroin distributions, and that they were delivering the money back to the heroin source. Starkey previously admitted that he and Thompson were responsible for distributing up to 400 grams of heroin during the conspiracy. As part of the plea agreement, Starkey admitted that he was responsible for all the drug trafficking conduct charged in the superseding indictment. Thompson previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin and faces up to 20 years in federal prison when she is sentenced on October 30, 2017.

The Huntington FBI Drug Task Force and the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams handled the prosecution. Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentence.

This prosecution was 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 illegal drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of illegal drugs in communities across the Southern District.

Updated August 14, 2017

Topic
Drug Trafficking