Charleston Man Sentenced Federal Drug Crime & Violating Probation
Friday, May 9, 2025, 6:30 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
CHARLESTON, W.VA.- A 39-year-old Charleston, West Virginia, man will be spending over the next decade in federal prison after being sentenced for distributing fentanyl throughout the Charleston, West Virginia, area.
On Wednesday, May 7, 2025, Tyrece Ramone Phillips, 39, of Charleston, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph R. Goodwin to 144 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release for his previously entered guilty plea.
Phillips had previously appeared in Federal Court in Charleston, West Virginia, and pleaded guilty before Judge Goodwin to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute 400 Grams or More of a Substance Containing Fentanyl; and Violating the Terms and Conditions of Supervised Release.
According To Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston
According to U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston and charging documents filed with the District Court, on October 3, 2024, federal law enforcement investigators intercepted a United States Postal package addressed to Phillips’ Charleston, West Virginia home. Following intercepting the package, investigators obtained and executed a court-authorized search of the package. During the search, investigators uncovered around 538 grams of a substance containing fentanyl inside the package.
Investigators quickly removed the fentanyl substance and replaced it with a facsimile substance. On October 4, 2024, investigators then conducted a controlled delivery of the package to Phillips’ residence. The package remained unopened on the front porch until Phillips returned home later that day. Phillips took the package inside his residence and immediately began to open the package. Investigators executed a court-authorized search warrant at Phillips’ residence and found Phillips with the package in his hands upon entering the home in an upstairs bathroom.
During the search, Investigators also located and seized a digital scale containing a powdery residue. Three teenage children living in the residence were present when Phillips handled the package.
At the time of the instant offense, Phillips was serving a term of supervised release for a prior 2019 conviction for the distribution of acetyl fentanyl and fentanyl. In handing down the sentence on Wednesday, Judge Goodwin also ordered Phillips to serve an additional two years for violating his supervised release and ordered the two years to run concurrent with the 144 months of imprisonment for the drug crime.
Acting U.S. Attorney Johnston commended the investigative work of Investigators of the U.S. Postal Service Investigations for the successful prosecution of Phillips.
