Bluefield Drug Peddler Pleads Guilty To Federal Meth Distribution Charge

Thursday, December 18, 2025, 8:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News, 

BLUEFIELD, W.VA.- On Wednesday, a 22-year-old Bluefield, West Virginia, man learned he could potentially be facing spending up to four decades in federal prison when sentenced next year, after pleading guilty to a federal narcotics distribution offense.

     According to U.S. Attorney Moore Capito, on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, Landon Joseph Cartwright, 22, of Bluefield, West Virginia, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Court Judge David A Faber to one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute 5 Grams or More of a Controlled Substance, Methamphetamine.

Cartwright Admits To Possessing And Intending To Distribute The Meth

     Following entering his guilty plea yesterday, Judge Faber accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for April 13, 2026. At that time, Cartwright faces a mandatory minimum of five years, and up to 40 years in federal prison, at least four years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $5 million. At sentencing, a U.S. District Court Judge will determine the term of imprisonment based on the seriousness of the offense and Cartwright’s prior criminal history, if any.

     The charge and guilty plea stem from an investigation that, on June 13, 2023, during the course of an illicit narcotics investigation, Investigators executed a court-authorized search warrant at Cartwright’s Bluefield, West Virginia, residence. During the search, Investigators located and seized just around 443 grams of methamphetamine.

     During Wednesday’s plea allocution, Cartwright admitted that he possessed the confiscated methamphetamine and that he had intended to distribute the controlled substance within the Bluefield, West Virginia, area.

     U.S. Attorney Capito commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, which led to Cartwright’s arrest and guilty plea.