A Beckley man faces a decade behind bars after a federal court dropped the hammer for his role in a drug distribution scheme. Lorenzo B. Herbert, 34, got a 10-year prison sentence, followed by four years of supervised release, for his intent to distribute major quantities of deadly fentanyl and methamphetamine.
During a raid on September 28, 2022, feds swooped into Herbert's residence near Beckley, where they uncovered a hefty stash of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and a pile of cash amounting to $8,245. The dough, prosecutors say, came from Herbert's past drug deals. In court proceedings, Herbert confessed to mixing and getting fentanyl ready for street sales right out of his kitchen when the cops came knocking, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.
The long arm of the law was well represented in the bust, with a coalition of agencies including the FBI, ATF, and local law enforcement pooling resources to take down Herbert. U.S. Attorney Will Thompson hailed the teamwork, highlighting the critical roles of the Department of Homeland Security-HSI and the Chicago Police Department, among others, in the successful operation.
United States District Judge Frank W. Volk, handed down the sentence, capping off the prosecution led by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy D. Boggess. The case sprang from an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force initiative, a DOJ cornerstone aimed at breaking the back of high-level drug trafficking and money laundering outfits that threaten the safety and security, of the American public.
The conviction is a clear victory for the OCDETF program, which leverages the combined muscle and expertise, of its member agencies alongside state and local partners. Herbert's sentence serves as a cautionary tale to those embedded in the grip of drug peddling, a battle the feds show no sign of relenting in. Interested parties can dig into the details on the Southern District of West Virginia's U.S. Attorney's Office website or sift through PACER filings by looking up Case No. 5:22-cr-193.
