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Press Release

Maryland man sentenced for orchestrating multi-state heroin trafficking operation

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

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Brian Alexander Hall, 27, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced today to 100 months in prison for leading a multi-state heroin distribution network, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced.

Hall sold heroin in the Baltimore, Maryland area. A large group of individuals repeatedly travelled across state lines to procure quantities of heroin from Hall in Maryland, and the surrounding region. The individuals then returned to locations in West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania to redistribute the heroin. Hall pled guilty in November 2015 to one count of “Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin.”

Hall, along with 40 other individuals, was charged in a 163-count federal indictment in June 2015. Three additional defendants involved in the heroin trafficking scheme were also sentenced in federal court today.

Jessica Kesecker, 33, of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, pled guilty in August 2015 to one count of “Interstate Travel in Aid of Racketeering.” She was sentenced today to 35 months in prison.

Josh Reid, 33, of Martinsburg, pled guilty in October 2015 to one count of “Aiding and Abetting Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin.” He was sentenced today to 30 months in prison.

Bruce Morton Vaudrien, Jr., 46, of Kearneysville, West Virginia, pled guilty in October 2015 to one count of “Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin,” one count of “Use of a Telephone to Facilitate the Distribution of Heroin,” and one count of “Interstate Travel in Aid of Racketeering.” He was sentenced today to 27 months in prison on each count. The sentences will run concurrently for a total of 27 months in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anna Krasinski and Paul Camilletti prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated. 

Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.

Updated February 1, 2016