Raleigh County Woman Sentenced For Federal Drug Offense

Saturday, June 14, 2025, 7:30 A.M. ET. 1 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

CHARLESTON, W.VA.- A 25-year-old Crab Orchard, West Virginia, woman was spared federal prison for a federal narcotics distribution violation after being sentenced on Thursday to 60 months of federal probation.

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston, on Thursday, June 12, 2025, Melanie E. Hussain, 25, of Crab Orchard, West Virginia, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Frank W. Volk to six months of home confinement as a condition of a five-year term of federal probation after pleading guilty to Distribution of Fentanyl.

According To Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston

     According to charging documents filed with the District Court, on November 2, 2022, during an investigation into narcotics distribution in the Crab Orchard, West Virginia, area, Hussain sold around 4.2 grams of fentanyl to a confidential informant in exchange for $300 during a controlled buy under the observation of law enforcement Investigators.

     During her previous plea allocution, Hussain admitted to the sale of fentanyl and further admitted to selling 2.3 grams of methamphetamine to the confidential informant in exchange for $300 on November 3, 2022. Hussain also admitted to selling the illicit narcotics from her Crab Orchard, West Virginia home.

     Acting U.S. Attorney Johnston commended the investigative work of the Beckley/Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Unit, which led to the successful prosecution of Hussain.