Huntington man sixth to plead guilty for role in drug ring

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington man who participated in a multistate drug ring pleaded guilty today to a federal drug crime, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Roy Bills, 51, entered his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute marijuana. 

Between the summer of 2014 and May of 2016, Bills conspired with multiple individuals, including codefendants Corey Bruce Toney and Parker Wyatt Mays, to distribute marijuana in the Huntington area. Toney and Mays frequently acquired marijuana from a source in California and arranged for the marijuana to be shipped by courier or transported to Huntington. Bills traveled to California on at least two occasions to transport marijuana to Huntington as part of the conspiracy. He admitted that in October 2015 he transported 100 pounds of marijuana and in March 2016 he transported 80 pounds of marijuana. After arriving in Huntington with the drugs, Bills further admitted that he provided the marijuana to Toney for Toney and others to distribute. 

Bills faces up to 5 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on February 6, 2017.

These prosecutions arose out of a comprehensive investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the West Virginia State Police, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, the Huntington Police Department, the Huntington FBI Drug Task Force, the Ohio Highway Patrol, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the United States Postal Inspection Service, which resulted in charging 12 defendants for offenses related to the distribution of heroin, crack, marijuana, and alprazolam in Huntington. 

Five defendants have previously pleaded guilty for their roles in this drug ring. Matthew Michael Meadows, Arthur James Canada, Tanisha Lynette Wooding, Mays, and Toney have all pleaded guilty to various federal drug charges and are awaiting sentencing. All of the other defendants charged in the prosecution of this drug ring are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams is in charge of these prosecutions. Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers is presiding over these cases. 

These prosecutions are 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. 

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