Huntington woman pleads guilty in Detroit-based heroin scheme

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington woman pleaded guilty today in federal court to a drug charge for her role in a heroin conspiracy, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto. Charon Chere Harris, 36, entered her guilty plea to maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing heroin.

During May and June of 2015, Harris leased an apartment located at 2736 Rear 4th Avenue in Huntington. The terms of the lease provided that Harris would be the tenant of the apartment for a year beginning in May of 2015. However, Harris never resided in the apartment and actually leased it for the purpose of allowing Eddie William Randall, of Detroit, to reside there and distribute heroin that was transported from Detroit to the Huntington area.

On June 25, 2015, officers with the Huntington FBI Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at the apartment. During the search, officers seized approximately 40 grams of heroin, drug paraphernalia, a loaded 9mm pistol, and $13,030 in cash. During the search of another residence in Huntington on 25th Street, also identified through the investigation, officers seized approximately 280 grams of heroin and a loaded .45 caliber pistol. Randall admitted that he possessed the heroin from both residences for distribution and that he possessed the guns in an effort to protect himself from theft or robbery of heroin or cash.

Harris faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $500,000 when she is sentenced on April 25, 2016. Randall previously pleaded guilty and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in federal prison when he is sentenced on April 11, 2016. 

The investigation was conducted by the Huntington FBI Drug Task Force, the Huntington Police Department, and the Cabell County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph F. Adams is in charge of the prosecutions. The plea hearing was held before Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers.

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 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 pills and heroin in communities across the Southern District. 

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