A Detroit drug dealer who moved fentanyl into the St. Albans area near Charleston, W.Va., is headed to federal prison for nearly 12 years. Franklin Fitzgerald Elly, 36, known by the street name "Costco," was sentenced yesterday to 11 years and 10 months behind bars, followed by five years of supervised release. Federal prosecutors say the case grew out of undercover drug buys and a multijurisdictional investigation into fentanyl and meth trafficking in the Charleston region.
The case and the sentence
According to court filings, Elly admitted to a conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture containing fentanyl, and investigators linked him to at least four controlled purchases. Federal authorities ultimately held him responsible for more than 500 grams of fentanyl as part of the probe. The sentence was announced as part of Operation Take Back America, a federal initiative targeting drug trafficking in the area, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Criminal record and parole status
Records from the Michigan Department of Corrections show Elly already had prior drug-related convictions out of Wayne County and was on parole when federal officials say the conspiracy took place. As reported by CBS Detroit, U.S. Attorney Moore Capito described Elly as a career criminal who has sold drugs in West Virginia and two other states. That history likely did him no favors when it came time for sentencing.
Who investigated
The investigation was led by the FBI working with the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (MDENT), a regional task force that pulls in the Charleston Police Department, the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, the Nitro Police Department, the St. Albans Police Department and the South Charleston Police Department. U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin handed down the prison term after the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy B. Wolfe, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Co-defendants and the larger probe
Elly and co-defendant Eric Jaeshon Ray were among 16 defendants charged in the broader federal investigation into fentanyl and meth distribution in and around Charleston. Ray was sentenced in January to eight years and one month in prison, according to local reporting and court records cited by WV News.
Why the penalties are stiff
Under federal law, trafficking 40 grams or more of a fentanyl-containing mixture opens the door to harsh punishment. The statute sets a sentencing range that includes a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 40 years in prison, along with required supervised release, according to the U.S. Code. Against that backdrop, and with hundreds of grams of fentanyl attributed to the conspiracy, federal prosecutors opted to take the case on and pursue significant time behind bars.
