Illinois Man & West Virginia Woman Plead Guilty To Northern Panhandle Drug Dealing

Friday, September 5, 2025, 7:15 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

WHEELING, W.VA.- A 40-year-old Chicago, Illinois, man and a 44-year-old Weirton, West Virginia woman will be facing decades in federal prison after pleading guilty on Tuesday for their roles in an interstate drug trafficking operation that was responsible for transporting large quantities of fentanyl from Chicago, Illinois, into the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Randolph J. Bernard, on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, Stephen Price, also known as “Sleepy, “40, of Chicago, Illinois, and Paula Jean Truax, 44, of Weirton, West Virginia, both appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia and pleaded guilty before U.S.Magistrate Judge James P.Mazzone for their roles in a fentanyl trafficking operation.

     Price pleaded guilty to eight counts of Conspiracy to Distribute, Possession with Intent to Distribute, and Distribution of Controlled Substances, Fentanyl, and Cocaine. Additionally, on Tuesday, Truax pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Distribute and Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances, Fentanyl, and Cocaine.

According Charging Information Filed With District Court

     According to the charging information filed with the District Court, during a Northern Panhandle narcotics investigation, Investigators uncovered that Price and Truax were among 18 others who worked together and with the others to transport large quantities of controlled substances from Chicago into Hancock County, West Virginia, to be repackaged and redistributed throughout the Hancock County area and elsewhere in the Northern District of West Virginia.

    Following Price and Truax, entering their guilty pleas, Judge Mazzone accepted the pleas and scheduled sentencing for a time and date to be determined by the court. At sentencing, Price faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison on one of the counts, and on each of the remaining seven counts, Price faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. When sentenced, Truax faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. At sentencing, a U.S. District Court Judge will determine the term of imprisonment based on the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal histories of Price and Truax.

     Acting U.S. Attorney commended the investigative work of the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Hancock Sheriff’s Office for the arrests and Tuesday’s guilty pleas by Price and Truax.