Charleston Man Sentenced For Distribution Of Methamphetamine
Saturday, December 21, 2024, 7:10 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
CHARLESTON, W.VA.- On Thursday, December 19, 2024, Terrence Jay Mason, 31, of Charleston, West Virginia, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Vermont and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas E. Johnston to 84 months in federal prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release on his guilty plea of Distribution of 5 Grams or More of Methamphetamine.
According to documents filed with the court and statements made during the plea allocution, during an ongoing narcotics investigation, in April 2023, Mason sold and distributed a total of just around 74 grams of methamphetamine during three separate controlled buys to a confidential informant under the observation and recorded by law enforcement investigators in Charleston, West Virginia.
During his plea allocution and as part of his plea agreement, Mason admitted to one of the transactions that on April 6, 2024, he sold just around 26 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in Charleston, West Virginia.
Police Obtain And Execute Arrest Warrant
After conducting the three controlled transactions on May 2, 2023, investigators of the Charleston Police Department obtained an arrest warrant for Mason and a court-authorized search warrant for his person and entered a house on Frame Street in Charleston, West Virginia. During the execution of the warrants, investigators found Mason in a bathroom attempting to flush a large sum of cash and methamphetamine down a toilet. Investigators also saw a tactical shotgun, a semi-automatic rifle, and large quantities of controlled substances in plain view inside the residence.
Investigators quickly obtained and executed a court-authorized search warrant for the residence and located and seized around 140 grams of methamphetamine, 44 grams of fentanyl, five loaded firearms, including the shotgun and the rifle, and $8,724 in U.S. currency in denominations consistent with street level narcotics sales.
U.S. Attorney Will Thompson commended the investigative work of the Charleston Police Department’s Street Crimes Unit that led to the successful prosecution of Mason.
