Washington Man Heading To Prison On Drug Charges

Two men, one from Washington County, have been sentenced federal prison for drug trafficking in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.  U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey says James Thomas Howard, 37, of Washington, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 77 months for distributing methamphetamine. Howard, also known as “Jim Tom,” sold 32 grams of meth to someone in Marshall County. He has multiple prior drug convictions.  Gerald Lee Young, 58, of Wintersville, Ohio, was sentenced to 77 months in prison for possessing cocaine base. Young was stopped in his vehicle for traveling the wrong way on a one-way street in Weirton, West Virginia. Young admitted to the officer that there might be controlled substances in the car. A K9 was deployed, and the officer found 49 grams of cocaine base and $1114 in cash in Young’s vehicle. Two residences Young was associated with were later searched. Officers found nearly 2 grams of fentanyl, 1.3 grams of cocaine base and nearly 9 grams of methamphetamine, along with $1,918 in cash and a firearm. Young has prior drug convictions.  Authorities say these cases are a part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations to protect communities from the perpetrators of violent crime, and repel the invasion of illegal immigration.