Eight More Sentenced For Roles In Lage-Scale West Virginia Drug Trafficking Organization
Sunday, June 8, 2025, 7:45 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
MARTINSBURG, W.VA.- On Wednesday, June 4, 2025, Acting U.S. Attorney Randolph J. Bernard reported that an additional eight individuals were sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia to various terms in federal prison for their roles in a large-scale Eastern Panhandle drug trafficking organization that transported illicit narcotics from Maryland into the Northern District of West Virginia.
81 Charged In Eastern Panhandle Drug Trafficking Ring
The sentences stem from a January 2024 indictment charging Gary Brown, Jr., and eighty-one others who were responsible for distributing large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties and elsewhere within the Northern District of West Virginia.
Eight Sentenced To Federal Prison
The following eight appeared between Monday, June 2, 2025, and Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia and were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Gina M. Groh. Those sentenced are:
Eric Garner, also known as “Pops,” 58, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison.
Gary Rodriquez, also known as “Mr. T,” 34, of Lanham, Maryland, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison.
Benjamin Paul Knotts, 49, of Charles Town, West Virginia, was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison.
Damian Costello, 28, of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison.
Michael Bradley Decker, 44, of Inwood, West Virginia, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison.
Gary Brown, III, 20, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison.
Wendy Diane Crites, 58, of Charles Town, West Virginia, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison.
Michael Regale Luckett, 47, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, was sentenced to 9 months in federal prison.
In handing down the sentences, Judge Groh additionally sentenced all eight defendants to various terms of supervised release upon completion of their prison terms.
Maryland Man Still Remains On The Run
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, of the eighty-two defendants charged in the indictment, eighty-one have been convicted. Including this week’s eight, 70 defendants have been sentenced, and one defendant, Charles Delroy Singletary, 44, of Baltimore, Maryland, remains at large.
