Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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June 14, 2012

1 pleads guilty to drug charge

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BECKLEY — A Mercer Man who was arrested as part of the “Bluefield Pill Initiative,” pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of selling 50 hydromorphone, also known as Dilaudid, to a confidential informant who was working with law enforcement.

Marcus Antonio Hodge, 25, of Bluefield, pleaded guilty to U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger of the Southern District of West Virginia during a hearing at U.S. District Court in Beckley. Hodge was indicted on charges of selling 50 hydromorphone pills on Sept. 26, 2011; an additional 50 hydromorphone pills on Sept. 28, 2011; and another 19 hydromorphone pills on Sept. 30, 2011 — all to the CI.

Berger scheduled sentencing for Oct. 4, in Beckley. Hodge faces a maximum sentence of as much as 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of as much as $1 million.

U.S. Attorney R. Booth Goodwin of the Southern District of West Virginia has been working with Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ash as well as the Southern Regional Drug & Violent Crime Task Force on the initiative. Hodge’s plea marks the 12 drug dealer to plead guilty as part of the initiative in the last 11 days.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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