Charleston Man Gets 27 Months In Prison For Selling Counterfeit Pills

Friday, November 15, 2024, 6:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

CHARLESTON, W.VA.- A 24-year-old Charleston man learned on Wednesday that he will be spending a little over the next two years in federal prison for being a runner for a drug dealer and peddling his deadly counterfeit opioid pills on the streets of Charleston, West Virginia.    

On Wednesday, November 13, 2024, Curon Cameron Cordon, 24, of Charleston, West Virginia, appeared in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph R. Goodwin to 27 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on the Distribution of Protonitazene and Isotonitazene.

     According to U.S. Attorney Will Thompson and documents filed with the district court, on May 31, 2023, Cordon sold 13 pills to a confidential informant in Charleston, West Virginia, during a controlled buy under the observation of law enforcement investigators. An initial visual analysis of the pills determined that the pills were counterfeit pressed pills with the same markings as 30mg oxycodone pills.

     A subsequent analysis by the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory confirmed that the pills contained protonitazene and isotonitazene, synthetic opioids potentially more dangerous than deadly fentanyl.

     During an ensuing investigation, law enforcement investigators conducted seven additional controlled buys, during which Cordon, and on one, Jesus Emmanuel Davis, at Cordon’s instruction, sold the same type of counterfeit pills to a confidential informant. On four occasions, Corton drove the confidential informant to Davis’ residence to buy the pills, including on May 31, 2023.

Investigators Execute Search Warrant

     At the culmination of the investigation, on June 8, 2024, law enforcement investigators obtained and executed a court-authorized search warrant at Davis’ Charleston residence. During the search, investigators found 95 of the same pills in the pocket of a jacket found hanging inside Davis’ bedroom closet. 

     On October 9, 2024, Davis, 25, of Charleston, West Virginia, appeared in U.S. District Court and was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to distributing protonitazene and isotonitazene.

     U.S. Attorney commended the investigative work of the Charleston Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for their work in the successful prosecutions and convictions of Corton and Davis.