Two Sentenced to Prison for Key Roles in Multi-State Methamphetamine Trafficking Organization
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Two men were sentenced to prison for roles in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) responsible for distributing large quantities of methamphetamine in Kanawha County, with one also sentenced for participating in a foiled Fourth of July 2021 murder scheme.
Ramon David Alston, 42, of Decatur, Georgia, was sentenced today to 12 years and six months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute 500 or more grams of methamphetamine. Brian Dangelo Terry, 37, of Charleston was sentenced to 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute 500 or more grams of methamphetamine and for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2020 until at least September 28, 2021, Alston sold 1-pound and multi-pound quantities of methamphetamine from his Georgia residence to individuals including co-defendants from Charleston, West Virginia, as part of the DTO. Alston admitted that he knew these customers intended to distribute methamphetamine in the Southern District of West Virginia.
Alston further admitted that co-defendants Terry and Jonathan Gregory Bush visited his residence separately on July 19, 2021, and that he sold Bush a kilogram of methamphetamine. Bush was later stopped by police and arrested after being found in possession of the methamphetamine. Alston admitted to having sold approximately 6 pounds of methamphetamine to Terry over the course of the DTO conspiracy.
Terry admitted to obtaining methamphetamine from Alston as well as from sources in Columbus, Ohio, for distribution in and around Charleston. Terry distributed more than 16 pounds of methamphetamine between March 2019 and August 3, 2021. Terry and co-defendant Treydan Leon Burks along with others pooled their money in order to obtain the drugs, used couriers to transport drugs and drug proceeds, and distributed the drugs to lower-level dealers and users.
Terry further admitted that he, Burks and co-defendants James Edward Bennett and Douglas Jonathan Wesley armed themselves at a Rand residence on July 4, 2021, and drove to Charleston’s West Side with the intent to murder someone. Alerted to the plot, police in marked cruisers converged on the area. The four men abandoned their vehicle in a Washington Street parking lot due to the increased police presence. Federal agents executed a search warrant on the vehicle and recovered four loaded firearms, including a Spike’s Tactical, Model SL15, .223-caliber pistol. Terry was aware that he was prohibited from possessing a firearm following felony convictions for malicious wounding on February 25, 2005, and possession with intent to deliver marijuana on March 8, 2011, both in Kanawha County Circuit Court.
The case is part of a long-term investigation of methamphetamine distribution that resulted in the conviction of 17 individuals for various drug and firearm offenses in three separate indictments. Alston, Terry and 12 others pleaded guilty, including Burks and Bennett. Wesley and remaining co-defendants Timothy Wayne Dodd and Leo Antoine Smith were convicted at trial.
United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the excellent investigative work by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the United States Marshals Service, the Charleston Police Department, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentences. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks prosecuted the case.
The investigation was part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-172.
