Charleston Man Pleads Guilty To Federal Fentanyl Crime
Saturday, February 1, 2025, 1:00 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
CHARLESTON, W.VA.- A 38-year-old Charleston, West Virginia man is facing up to life in federal prison after pleading guilty on Thursday to attempting to distribute over a pound of fentanyl in the Charleston, West Virginia area.
On Thursday, January 30, 2025, Tyrece Ramone Phillips, 38, of Charleston, West Virginia, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Joseph R. Goodwin to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute 400 Grams or More of a Substance Containing Fentanyl.
When Sentenced, Phillips Faces Up To Life In Prison
Following entering his guilty plea, Judge Goodwin accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for April 24, 2025, at which time, Phillips faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison, at least five years of supervised release, and a $10 million fine. At sentencing, a U.S. District Court Judge will determine the term of imprisonment based on the seriousness of the offense and Phillips’ prior criminal history.
According to U.S. Attorney Will Thompson and charging documents filed with the court, on October 3, 2024, federal law enforcement investigators intercepted a U.S. Postal Service parcel addressed to Phillips’ Charleston, West Virginia residence.
Postal Inspectors Find Over A Pound Of Fentanyl
Investigators obtained and executed a court-authorized search warrant on the parcel and uncovered that the parcel contained around 572.2 grams of a substance containing fentanyl. Investigators removed the fentanyl, replaced it with a facsimile substance, and conducted a controlled delivery of the package to Phillips’ Charleston address on October 4, 2024.
Phillips, who was home, accepted delivery of the package and took the package inside the residence. Following accepting the package, investigators executed a search warrant at Phillips’ residence and found Phillips with the facsimile substance from the package in his hands in an upstairs bathroom. Investigators also located a large sum of U.S. currency, a digital scale containing narcotics residue, and other items consistent with illicit narcotics distribution activities.
U.S. Attorney Thompson commended the investigative work of the United States Postal Inspection Service for the investigation leading to Phillips’ guilty plea.
