Preston County man sentenced for role in drug distribution operation

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – David Gamble, of Masontown, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 70 months of incarceration for his role in methamphetamine, crack cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin drug distribution operation, United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced.

Gamble, age 58, pleaded guilty in February 2022 to one count of “Aiding and Abetting Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine.” Gamble admitted to working with another to distribute methamphetamine in April 2020 in Monongalia County.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zelda E. Wesley and Sarah E. Wagner prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The FBI's Northern West Virginia Drug Task Force in partnership with the Mon Metro Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.  The Task Forces have members from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; West Virginia State Police; Monongalia County Sheriff's Office; the Preston County Sheriff’s Office; Mineral County Sheriff’s Office; and the Morgantown, WVU, Granville and Star City Police Departments.  The investigation was also assisted by the following law enforcement partners:  the Monongalia County Prosecutor’s Office, the FBI in Houston, Texas; the Houston Police Department's Multi Agency Gang Initiative; the United States Postal Inspection Service in Houston; and, the FBI and DEA in Los Angeles, California.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided.

Related case here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/25-people-indicted-drug-trafficking-operation-spanned-several-states