Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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June 17, 2009

Police arrest dozens in Mercer drug bust

By GREG JORDAN

PRINCETON — More than a dozen arrests were made Wednesday as part of a continuing investigation of drug dealing in Mercer County.

“This morning arrests were made on 12 drug indictments returned, but sealed, by the June Grand Jury of Mercer County,” said Prosecuting Attorney Timm Boggess. “There are several more arrests to be made; however, those individuals are expected to be in police custody in the near future.”

Wednesday’s drug round-up was the second part of the overall effort, said Sgt. J. Centeno of the West Virginia State Police Special Unit for Criminal Investigation.

“These are the results of a long term investigation, about a year long, where we target numerous drug dealers in the area,” Centeno said. “Most of them operate independently. In the first phase we were able to indict federally several subjects that we determined to be the most dangerous and biggest drug dealers in the area. In the second phase, actually Friday last week, we were able to obtain numerous warrants for 20 people in the Bluefield area.”

Charges in the sealed indictments include delivery of cocaine, methadone, hydromorphone, morphine and oxycodone, Boggess said.

People arrested in Wednesday’s operation included: Robert C. Lewis, 34, of Brushfork; Shara Leann Dunn, 28, of Princeton; Blake Alexander Eller, 20, of Bluefield; Teresa Ann Stanley, 25, of Bluefield; Sidney Allen, no age available, of Bluefield; James Allen Taylor, 58, of Princeton; Zach A. Taylor, 21, of Princeton; Harry Clifford Harmon III, 53, of Bluefield; Terri Lea Wohlford, 50, of Bluefield; Angela Marie Sammons, 41, of Princeton; Melissa Lynn Cook, 33, Bluefield; and Henry Anderson King, 39, of Bluefield.

Court dates will be set Monday, June 22, during Docket Day at the Mercer County Courthouse, said Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ash.

“People often believe drug crimes do not have a victim,” Centeno said. “But in our experience, this victim is society as well as the families of drug users, especially children who are trapped in homes where parents are using drugs. We’re trying to alleviate the problem not only by targeting big drug dealers, but smaller ones, too, cutting supply and the middle man in the streets. These are in response to numerous complaints and requests for investigations from the public.”

Participating agencies included the West Virginia State Police, the sheriff’s departments in Mercer, McDowell and Wyoming counties, city police departments in Princeton and Bluefield, the United States Marshals Office and the Mercer County Adult Probation Department.



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