BLUEFIELD — Three McDowell County men were arrested Tuesday and one man remains at large as members of the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force moved to break up an illegal oxycodone drug ring that police say included six-figure deals, and at least one drug-dumping police chase through Mercer and McDowell Counties.
Christopher Gross, 29, of Gary, and twin brothers Terry and Jerry Headen, both 32 of Havaco, were at U.S. District Court in Bluefield Tuesday afternoon in response to a criminal complaint filed Monday by Sgt. W.T. Jones of the task force. The fourth man, who police say also maintains a residence in Bluefield and out of state, remains at large.
“We executed seven search warrants (Tuesday) morning at residences in McDowell and Mercer counties,” McDowell County Sheriff Danny Mitchell said. “We searched houses in Havaco, Gary and Bluefield where we were able to recover a large quantity of oxycodone, several weapons and a large quantity of cash.
“The arrests of the Headen twins and Chris Gross came at the conclusion of a long investigation conducted by the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, the McDowell, Wyoming and Mercer county sheriff’s departments, the Bluefield and Princeton city police, the West Virginia State police, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. I want to personally thank all these agencies for their long hours of work and their determination in investigating this case.”
The complaint alleges that the four subjects conspired to “knowingly and intentionally ... distribute and possess with intent to distribute quantities of oxycodone.” In an affidavit filed Monday at U.S. District Court in Beckley, Sgt. W.T. Jones of the Task Force outlined the last phase of his investigation involving evidence obtained by a wire tap authorized by federal authorities.
Jones alleged that the suspect who remains at large is “the main supplier of oxycodone” to Terry and Jerry Headen, and characterized the twins as “significant distributors of oxycodone in southern West Virginia.” He also alleges that Gross is “a significant dealer.”
Jones alleges in his affidavit that the conversations he recorded revealed deals involving 3,000 or more oxycodone pills, at $45 per pill. At least one of the alleged deals Jones recorded involved an exchange of $117,000, according to the affidavit.
Terry Headen and Eddie Lee Coats of Gary were arrested in McDowell County July 6 after a two-county police chase that started in Bluefield and involved someone in the suspect vehicle dumping hundreds of oxycodone pills from the vehicle during the chase. Even with the dumping, police discovered about 100 oxycodone pills in the vehicle.
“Based on my investigation, none of the above-referenced co-conspirators has legitimate employment,” Jones stated in his affidavit. “However, each has what appears to be significant financial resources including real estate, automobiles and cash, much of which continues to be re-invested in more oxycodone.”
Federal Magistrate Judge R. Clarke VanDervort ordered the three defendants detained and scheduled detention hearings and preliminary hearings for Friday at 3 p.m. in Beckley.
— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com
Local News
July 24, 2007
Drug ring busted
Three McDowell men arrested for alleged oxycodone distribution
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