Berkeley County, West Virginia resident pleads guilty to drug charges as part of a larger DOJ investigation indicting 22 defendants.
Kristina Gilmore, also known as “Diamond,” 25, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, has admitted to drug charges, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Court records in the federal case indicated she has pleaded guilty to one count of “conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine base” and one count of “aiding and abetting distribution of heroin and fentanyl mixture.” Gilmore faces up to two decades in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000 for each count.
The charges stem from a DOJ probe that led to the arrest of two Berkeley County, West Virginia, residents. Arnel Hategekimana, 21, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, also known as “Dominique Cash Robinson” and “Homie,” and Gilmore, were each indicted on the same charges. Hategekimana, however, was also charged with on one count of “possession with intent to distribute forty grams or more of a fentanyl and heroin mixture,” one count of “possession with the intent to distribute cocaine base,” and one count of “possess with intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride.”
The DOJ also sought forfeiture of $4,348 in cash, a Glock pistol, and ammunition connected to the case. The government’s investigation was supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) under the Attorney General-led Synthetic Opioid Surge (SOS)/Special Operations Division (SOD) Project Clean Sweep, which operates with the goal of reducing the amount of synthetic opioids in suspected high volume areas. OCDETF “identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks,” according to investigators.
The guilty plea in the federal case comes just one week after Justin Clinton, 25, of Martinsburg pleaded guilty to one count of “conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute eutylone and cocaine base,” according to U.S. Attorney Bill Powell of the Northern District of West Virginia. The defendant admitted to conspiring with others to distribute the illicit drugs from October 2019 to April 2020 in Berkeley and Jefferson counties. Barbara Jean Feltner, 32, of Martinsburg, also pleaded guilty to one count of “aiding and abetting distribution of heroin and fentanyl,” Powell said. Feltner admitted to working with others to profit from the sale of these drugs in February 2020 in Berkeley County. Both also face up to two decades in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.
In total, 22 people are facing charges in a case which has been termed the “19th Street Enterprise,” consisting of racketeering to conceal thousands of dollars in from “drug sales, acts of violence and the distribution of more than 400 grams of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine base and cocaine hydrochloride,” the DOJ noted.
“Protecting the community is both my biggest responsibility and greatest honor,” Powell said. “This case involves a tangled web of drugs, violence and money and it was being orchestrated by those outside of our state, with enough fentanyl to kill two and (a) half times the population of West Virginia. We will not tolerate others preying on our residents and will continue to work to bring all of those who do so to justice.”
Sources:
Berkeley County woman admits to drug charges
Berkeley County residents facing drug charges
Two individuals plead guilty in drug trafficking enterprise case
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